


Tales of Shadows

by ArchdemonSlayer



Series: Tales of Shadows [1]
Category: Blue Dragon, Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Alternate Ending, Extra Spirits, Multi, New Entelexeia, New character named Mist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-27
Updated: 2013-09-27
Packaged: 2017-12-27 19:39:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 44,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/982820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArchdemonSlayer/pseuds/ArchdemonSlayer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shu, Jiro, Kluke, Marumaro, and Bouquet encounter a Dimensional Break. Marumaro gets curious and enters it, the other following to try getting him back. They wake up to find themselves on Terca Lumires, a world in a different dimension from their own. Now they need to find a way back with the help of Mist(my OC), Flynn, and Brave Vesperia. However, they weren't the only ones warped</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Terca Lumires

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, I've made some changes to the main Tales of Vesperia storyline:
> 
> -Party manages to kill Alexei before he accidentally releases the Adephagos
> 
> -Sodia is NOT Flynn's second-in-command because I really, really hate her. She's the captain of the Sodia Brigade.
> 
> -Yuri isn't stabbed on top of Zaude; Duke DOES get back Dein Nomos
> 
> -Despite all of this, Belius is turned into Undine, Phaeroh dies from the wounds he recieved at Zaude and is turned into Efreet, Khroma and Gusios are killed by the Hunting Blades and are turned into Sylph and Gnome.
> 
> -Aurnion has not been build
> 
> -There is a sudden Entelexeia outbreak

"Dammit, we lost it!" Shu gritted out. He, Jiro, Kluke, Marumaro, and Bouquet were chasing a Shadow, Balaur (Blue Dragon Plus, anyone?), who had been in a state of hibernation until just recently. He had been causing havoc and destruction in the towns and cities for a week now.

"We'll need to spread out and find him," Kluke said. "We can't allow that Shadow to give us the slip again."

"Right!" the other four replied. They fanned out in different directions in the forest they were in, checking under every rock or shrub for any signs that Balaur was hiding.

After what seemed like an eternity, Bouquet shouted, "Come look at this you guys!"

Rushing over to the clearing Bouquet was in they saw what she was talking about. In front of them was a black distortion.

"It looks like a Dimensional Break," Kluke said.

"A Dimentional Break?" Shu echoed. Meanwhile, unseen by the other four, Marumaro was walking over to the break.

"A Dimentional Break is a rip in time-space. It- Marumaro! Don't touch that!" Kluke suddenly screamed. Everyone turned to see Marumaro touch the Dimensional Break and suddenly vanish right in front of them. Kluke ran forward, looking over her shoulder. "Come on, we need to follow Marumaro!"

The others exchanged glances before following Kluke into the Dimensional Break.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey I think they're waking up!"

"Really? They still look totally out of it."

"Mist, please just help me out,"

"Yes sir..."

Shu opened his eyes when he felt someone nudging him. Crouched over him was a blonde haired man with blue eyes and wearing a blue and white tunic with armor.

"I see you're awake now," The man said. "My name's Flynn Scifo. What's yours?"

"It's Shu," Shu replied, sitting up and looking around. A silver haired girl wearing a uniform identical to Flynn's had just finished waking up Shu's friends.

"Okay, they're up now, Commandant Flynn," the girl said, turning her golden eyes to Flynn. Flynn nodded.

"Thenk you, Mist."

"Where are we?" Bouquet asked.

"Wherever we are, it's not our own world," Kluke answered. Everyone stared at her.

"What do you mean, Kluke?" Shu asked.

"What I was going to say before that moron decided to go poking around was that a Dimensional break can send you into a world in a different dimension," Kluke said, shooting a glare at Marumaro.

"It was too tempting, maro!" Marumaro replied. Mist and Flynn gasped.

"Did that cat just talk?" Mist asked.

"Marumaro's not a cat. He's a Devee," Jiro replied. "A brain-damaged one at that."

"So can you tell us where we are?" Kluke asked.

"Our world is called Terca Lumires. Right now, we're just on the outskirts of the imperial capital, Zaphias," Flynn explained. "Now, can you tell us what you were talking about before? Something about a Dimensional Break."

"Oh, yes, a Dimensional Break can appear randomly in our world. Anyone who enters it can be sent to a world in another dimension."

"Sounds similar to a Phantom Rift," Mist commented.

"Well, Phantom Rifts were conjured up by Phaeroh. And they don't send you to a different dimension or time. Just into an illusion. Yormgen is an example," Flynn said.

"But think about it, sir," Mist replied. "If we could somehow use aer to make a replica of Phaeroh's Phantom Rifts, we could possible make it inter-dimensional. We could even send these guys back to their own world." Flynn shook his head.

"Sorry, but I didn't really understand what you just said. I'm not a blastia researcher."

"How can you turn air into something that can resemble a Dimensional Break?" Kluke asked.

"What do you mea- Oh! You're talking about the air we breathe. No, aer is the primeaval power that fills our world. It affects everything. It even powers our blastia," Mist explained. "And before you ask, blastia are essential to our way of life. They provide us with things like fire, water, light, and barriers to keep monsters out. Almost every town or city has a barrier blastia. For fighting, we use bohdi blastia." Mist held out her right arm. On her wrist was a thin golden bracelet with a red gem. "We can perform strike and magic artes with them."

"I'm totally lost," Shu said. Mist just froze and sweatdropped, her eye twitching.

"Is he always this stupid?" Mist asked the others.

"Pretty much," Jiro replied. Shu turned to glare at him.

"You're not helping!"

"Um, I'm a bit confused myself," Kluke said.

"They'll learn as they get used to Terca Lumires," Flynn said, stepping forward. "For now, we need to finish the monster patrol."

"Hold on, you keep mentioning monsters. Are there really monsters in this world?" Bouquet asked.

"You don't have monsters on yours? Don't you ever get bored?" Mist replied.

"We have barriers to protect the towns from them, but people traveling between towns are at risk of being attacked," Flynn said.

"Like right now!" Mist yelled, pulling out her sword. Shu heard growls and turned. Several black wolves with glowing red eyes were stalking toward them, teeth bared in a snarl.

"You guys stay back!" Flynn ordered Shu and the others, rushing over to stand next to Mist, puling out a blue sword. One of the wolves leapt and Mist changed her stance.

"O flickering blaze burn... Fireball!" A burst of fire shot out of nowhere in front of Mist, hitting the wolf, sending it squeaking back. It jerked once and lay still.

"Commandant Flynn, back me up while I cast another spell!" Mist yelled.

"Got it!" Flynn replied, rushing forward and cutting down one monster after another. A red circle appeared below Mist.

"O countless particles that wander the heavens, rain down and glorify the land... Meteor Storm!" As Mist spoke those last words, several gigantic fireballs appeared above Mist. "Commandant, watch out!"

Flynn nodded and leaped back behind Mist as the fireballs rained down on the monsters. Yelps and squeaks were cut short as the attack obliterated them, leaving only smoking craters behind.

"Well that's do- -" She cut off as two wolves leaped out of the bushes at her. She spun around. 'Oh shit!'

"Blue Explosion!" Mist covered her eyes as a blue beam took out both wolves. She turned to see Shu and a dragon behind him.

"Nice shot, Blue Dragon!" Shu said.

"I wish you had something a little more challenging for me to hit," Blue Dragon replied sharply. He vanished in a flash of blue.

"Wh-what was that?" Flynn asked, a bit shocked.

"That was my Shadow, Blue Dragon," Shu replied.

"We all have Shadows," Kluke explained. "However, only us and a few others in our world have the ability to summon a Shadow."

"A power not produced by blastia..." Mist muttered, intrugued. "A bit like Lady Estellise, what with her being the Child of the Full Moon after all."

"Let's head back to the castle," Flynn said, motioning with his hand for everyone to follow him. "We can talk more in there."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I see," Flynn murmured, leaning back in the chair at his desk. "So that's how your world works."

"Imagine: A world without monsters!" Mist exclaimed.

"Yup, one interesting story indeed."

Shu saw Flynn and Mist jump at the sound of a newcomer's voice. They snapped their heads around to Flynn's window. Sitting in it was a man with long violet hair and onyx colored eyes. His clothing was all black. In his left hand was a katana and on his wrist was a bohdi blastia.

"Yuri, scare me like that again and I'll take Second Star and shove it up your ass!" Mist growled.

"Nice to see you too, Mist," Yuri replied, leaping off the window into the room.

"Yuri, I wish you would use the door more often," Flynn said, annoyance evident in his voice.

"Nah, doors are overrated. I actually swung by to pay Estelle a visit, but I happened to overhear you guys. Never would've imagined other worlds besides our own," Yuri replied, glancing at Shu and the others.

"I swear, you're like a little kid," Mist grumbled. "I really can't see how you and Commandant Flynn could be childhood friends."

"Sometimes I wonder myself," Flynn said, resting his forhead in his hand.

"Aw, I'm hurt," Yuri replied.

A few moments later, Flynn's door opened and a woman walked in. Her hair was a light purple pulled up into a bun and two long blue plumey feather-like...things...were coming out the back of her head (I know, I know, Judith has antennae, but its not like the Blue Dragon character do as well. It even took me until I got the Antennea Guard attachment that I figured out they were antennae, and it honestly freaked me out a little.) and elf-like ears and violet eyes. Her clothing was rather revealing. She was practically wearing a two piece swimsuit. Her gigantic breasts were threatening to slip over her top. She was carrying a large red spear on her back.

"Hey, Judy!" Yuri greeted.

"Judith, why are you here, too?" Mist asked. Judith just waved and looked over her shoulder.

"Hey, I found him!" Judith yelled. A moment later, more people came in. One was a teenage short brown haired girl with goggles on her head. She was wearing a bohdi blastia on her neck, red clothing, shorts, and mismatched socks. Next was a shorter boy who looked about Shu's age. His hair was brown and his shirt was green and white. He carried a large shoulder bag with a blastia core on it. Then there was a pink short haired girl who looked to be in her late teens. She had a pink and white dress on and green eyes. There was a purple and white dog who seemed to be keeping its distance from her. A large scar was over its closed left eye and its tail was shaped like a lightning bolt.A bohdi blastia was at the base of it. It carried a golden pipe in its mouth and had a dagger strapped to its right flank. Finally, there was a middle-aged man with spiky black hair tied up in a ponytail. His eyes were blue. He was wearing a large purple coat and black pants.

"There you are!" the brown haired girl exclaimed. "We've been looking all over for you, you know?!"

"Sorry, Rita," Yuri replied. "Guess I got a little sidetracked."

"Who are they?" Bouquet asked. The people turned to look at her and the others.

"Rita Mordio," Rita replied. "Genius mage in Aspio."

"I'm Karol Capel," the brown haired boy said. "I'm the leader of our guild, Brave Vesperia!"

"No one really cares," Rita mumbled.

"You suck, Rita!" Karol exclaimed. Rita spun around and smacked him hard onto the ground.

"Um, my name is Estellise, but you can call me Estelle," pink haired girl said, stepping forward.

"That's my partner, Repede," Yuri said, pointing to the dog. Repede barked in response.

"And I am the great and mighty-" the black haired man began to say before Rita cut in.

"Old man," she finished. The man turned on her.

"Fer the millionth time, it's Raven!" Raven exclaimed. Shu noticed Marumaro edging over to an unsuspecting Judith, fingers twitching as his boob radar went off.

"I can't take it anymore, maro!" Marumaro yelled, pouncing and grabbing onto a shocked Judith's chest. He began to bury his head in her breasts, drooling. "So soft! So soft!" Raven looked absolutely envious.

"Why the hell does he get ta touch yer boobs, Judith darlin', but not me!" Raven moaned. Rita spun around and planted her fist into his face.

"YOU PERVERTED CREEP!" Rita shreaked. Raven staggered back onto his feet, holding his bloody nose. Judith, meanwhile, had an incredibly rare look of rage on her face as she pryed the Devee off of her and chucked him into a potted plant, shattering the vase.

"Judith, be careful!" Flynn shouted, standing up from his desk.

"Um, so who are you guys?" Estelle asked.

"I'm Shu," Shu replied.

"Jiro."

"Kluke."

"Bouquet."

"M-Marumaro..." Marumaro was staggering back onto his feet, pieces of dirt still on his pot-like helmet.

"They're apparently from a different world than ours," Yuri said. "They wound up here chasing this Shadow of Balaur."

"Shadow of Balaur?" Rita asked.

"That idiot Devee decided to inspect the Dimensional Break that sent us here without thinking about what it might do," Jiro replied, crossing his arms. "Of course, I guess thinking isn't one of his strong points."

"I-I resent that...maro..." Marumaro said, still dizzy and looping around.

"Hold on, I'd like to hear your story, then," Rita said.

"Okay," Kluke replied. "Here's some bits about our world first..."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So you guys have this Shadow power or whatever, and you're chasing this Shadow of Balaur that's been causing destruction in your world?" Rita asked when Kluke finished.

"Yes," Kluke replied.

"It could be possible that the Balaur escaped into the Dimensional Break as well, since you couldn't find it," Rita said.

"Come to think of it, you could be right," Shu replied. "If it did escaped into the Dimensional Break, then we have to find and stop it right away!"

"But what if you're wrong?" Bouquet asked. "It could still be in our world."

"I'll send out some Knights to investigate if any towns are being attacked," Flynn said. He turned to Mist. "Tell Captain Sodia that her brigade is to do this task."

"Yes sir!" Mist replied, saluting, before going into the castle halls. Flynn turned back to Shu and the others.

"As soon as we get word of attacks, Mist and I will assist you in bringing down the Shadow of Balaur."

"Don't forget about us!" Karol said. "Brave Vesperia will help out in any way we can!"

"Oh brother..." Rita mumbled. "Here he goes again..."

"Thanks, all of you," Shu said. "I'm sure that together we can finally take down the Balaur!"


	2. The Entelexeia, Krysis

It was the middle of the night and Mist was fast asleep until an Aspio mage burst through the door. At the same time, Mist's right hand shot up, her blastia core glowing, and a large fireball appeared in her hand. She was still facing away from the mage, but it was obvious she was pissed. The mage held his trembling hands in front of his face.

"P-please don't hurt me!" he begged.

"Then you'd better hurry up and tell me why you're in here, and it had better as hell be important!" Mist growled.

"T-the aer krene at Keiv Moc is going out of c-control!" the mage stammered. "Reports are that the E-Entelexeia, Krysis, has been t-taken over by it and is attacking Dahngrest!"

The fireball vanished instantly and Mist shot up. "An Entelexeia?! But how in the world is that possible?!"

The mage seemed to calm down, but was still tense. "Judith tells us that Krysis must have been trying to restablize the aer krene, but ate too much aer. Now he's been overcome by it and is leading monsters against Dahngrest."

"If that's the case, we may have no choice but to kill Krysis," Mist murmured. Then she looked back at the mage. "What about everyone else? Have they been informed?"

"Commandant Flynn has just ordered that members of his brigade closest to Dahngrest are to hold off the monsters until he arrives," the mage replied. "He, Brave Vesperia, a group of kids are meeting outside the noble quarter."

"Alright, just let me get changed first," Mist said. The mage left and closed the door. A few minutes later, Mist came out wearing a white low-cut shirt and black shorts, boots, and fingerless gloves. As she walked down the halls of the castle, Knights saluted her, despite her not wearing her uniform. She noticed a few staring at her and she gave them a look that said "If you have a problem with what I'm wearing, then say it to my face". The Knights looked away, getting the message.

Once she exited the castle into the noble quarter, she could already see the gigantic whale-like dragon Entelexeia, Ba'ul, just outside the barrier holding the ropes connected to the Fiertia in his mouth. She hurried over to it, where everyone, including Shu and the others, were waiting. Mist glanced over at Yuri.

"Surprised you're up this early. Must've had to roll you out the window to wake you up."

"Oh har, har, har," Yuri grumbled, climbing up the rope ladder into the ship. "As a matter of fact, the innkeeper just had to bang the pots and pans over my head."

When everyone was in the ship, Judith telepathically ordered Ba'ul to fly to Dahngrest. As they flew to Tolbyccia, Flynn walked over to Mist, looking up and down at her. "Lose your uniform?"

"Nah, I just hate how uncomfortable and heavy the armor is," Mist replied.

"I wish you could try to be a little more formal every now and then," Flynn sighed, turning and walking away.

Mist looked over to where Kluke was talking with Judith.

"In our world, we have machines that can fly us," Kluke was saying.

"Well, here people usually go out on ships if they want to go to another continent." Judith replied.

"What continents are there?" Kluke asked.

"Well, the one we're leaving is Ilyccia and the one we're going to is Tolbyccia. The other continents are Hypionia, Desier, Weccea, and Yurzorea."

"So which one are you from?"

Hmm, well I guess it would be Desier," Judith replied.

"Why do you say 'I guess'?" Kluke asked.

"Well, ten years ago during the Great War, the Krityan city that I was from, Temza, was destroyed. Ba'ul saved me then. Ever since, I guess my home would be Myorzo."

"So where's Myorzo then?"

"Myorzo is inside the flying Entelexeia, Kromes. We may see Kromes on the way to Dahngrest. Just look for a gigantic blue jellyfish. He's even bigger than Ba'ul."

"So just what are the Entelexeia anyway?" Kluke asked.

"Hmm, well many humans lump the Entelexeia in with the monsters. In truth, the Entelexeia are completely different from monsters. They don't attack people without reason. The Entelexeia care deeply for the world. They are able to eat aer in order to restablize it. When they die, all the aer they ate is formed into a crystal called an apatheia. Crushed apatheia are then used as cores to power blastia. The Great War was fought between the humans and the Entelexeia all because of the hermes blastia, which was developed by my father, Hermes. The Entelexeia lost the war and were nearly extinct. However, it seems that many Entelexeia had gone into a hibernation centuries ago and are now waking up."

"I noticed that you put your hand on the side of your head and Ba'ul took off. Is it a kind of signal?"

"No. We Krityans are able to telepathically communticate with the Entelexeia, even over great distances," Judith replied. She held up one of her long feather-looking blue antennae. "Our antennae send out the message and can receive a reply."

"Wait, those things are antennae?!" Kluke exclaimed, backing up a step and looking a bit freaked out. "I thought those were supposed to be some kind of hair attachment for fashion!" (Note: This is exactly what was going through my head when I found out about them. Oh, and with the inventor of the hermes blastia for those of you who have played ToV, with the Hermes Memo, sleep at the inn in Aurnion to get a cutscene with Rita and Judith decoding the memo. I think it's the second cutscene after sleeping again that Judith reveals Hermes was her father.)

Judith didn't look all that offended by Klukes reaction and instead gave her a small smile. How Judith stays so calm and collected, Mist will never know. She saw Rita run up to the girls.

"Hey, have you two seen the old man?" she asked. "I've been looking all over for him."

"Why?" Judith asked.

"If he isn't in my field of vision at all times, I get the feeling he's up to something."

"I'm sure he wouldn't betray us again," Judith replied, looking serious.

"I'm not talking about the whole Schwann thing, I'm talking about him and his perverted mind!"

"Oh, is that all?" Judith asked.

"'Is that all'? How can you not be worried that he'll sexually harass you?!" Rita exclaimed. "Just tell me if you've seen where he went!"

"I think I saw him and Marumaro go into the ship's cabin," Judith said.

"Oh great! Two perverts together in the same room! I'm going in there and breaking it up!" Rita growled, stomping off to the cabin.

"Just make sure you don't break the cabin," Judith called after her. "You know Tokunaga wil want a word with you if you do."

Rita entered the cabin. A few moments later, screaming was heard and everyone turned to the cabin entrance. Then Raven, followed by Marumaro, came flying out. Raven's coat and Marumaro's cape were both on fire and they were trying to extinguish it. Rita came storming out.

"Fireballed them?" Mist asked.

"You know it!" Rita exclaimed, sounding like setting both boys on fire was the best thing in the world.

"Dammit, Rita!" Raven exclaimed when he was finally able to put the fire out. "Go a little easier on the magic artes!" A fire glyph appeared under Rita and she held up a fireball.

"How about I just chuck this into your mouth so you'll shut up?!"

"No, no! I'm fine!" Raven replied, cringing. The fireball vanished and Rita turned away with a "Hmph!".

"Hey, look down there!" Karol suddenly exclaimed. He was leaning over the side of the ship and pointing at something below. Everyone rushed over to see what he was talking about. They were now over Dahngrest. The Entelexeia, Krysis, was in the back lines of the monsters that inhabit the forest of Keiv Moc. Krysis had light purple fur. He had four dragonfly-like wings and blue crystal spines running down his back. He stood on two furry legs and his hands were equiped with long black talon-like claws. He had a large tail with blue fur at the tip. His face resembled a dragon's. He had two crystal horns and a white beard tipped with orange. (I noticed the non-bird Entelexeia with Kromes as an exception had a white beard. I know Belius's technically wasn't a beard, just thick neck fur but Gusios and Ba'ul have them.)

"His army looks pretty big," Mist said.

"We need to do something about the aer krene, too!" Rita added. "Its effects could spread further if we don't get it under control!"

"Ba'ul can take care of that," Judith said. "Krysis might have eaten most of it, so Ba'ul could finish restablizing it."

"In the meantime, the rest of us will defeat the monsters attacking Dahngrest," Flynn said. Ba'ul let out a howl.

"What's he saying?" Yuri asked Judith.

"He says he'll do his best, but the hard part will be Krysis," Judith translated. Ba'ul howled again. "He's afraid that the only option at this point is to kill him."

"Krysis..." Estelle murmured, folding her hands together and looking down at them.

"Don't worry," Yuri said to Estelle. "We can just go to the aer krene and convert him into a spirit."

"Right..." Estelle replied. Yuri looked over at Shu and the others.

"Sure you'll be okay?"

"We'll be fine," Shu replied.

"Okay, let's land and take out the monsters!" Flynn ordered.

"Ba'ul!" Judith shouted. Ba'ul howled and landed the Fiertia. Everyone except for Judith got off the ship and Ba'ul took off again, heading for Keiv Moc.

It didn't take them long to reach the fighting. Knights and the guilds were on the outside of the barrier, cutting down monster after monster. A few got past the defence, but were thrown back once they hit the invisible barrier. Mist notice the three blue barrier rings above the city flickered for a moment.

"The barrier's been hit quite a few times," Mist commented.

"It should still hold out," Rita replied. She pulled out her scroll. Mist took out Last Fencer and charged into the fray, taking down the giant beetle-like monsters that flew at her. Flynn ran next to her, using Demonic Chaos to kill a few wolves leaping at them.

The kids from the other world had summoned their Shadows and were holding their own very well. Repede was using Ghost Wolf, dashing and cutting down the monsters with his dagger. A few gigantic praying mantis monsters leapt at Raven, only to be killed by Blast Heart. Estelle was a distance away from the fighting, healing the injured and occasionally attacking. Yuri's Savage Wolf Fury took out three of the giant plant monsters. Karol was hitting one monster after another with his large hammer. Rita used Ancient Catastrophie to kill the monsters threatening to overwhelm her.

Mist saw the moment where Krysis wasn't being guarded and charged at him, casting Stone Blast. The shards of rock hit him and he hissed with fury, glaring at her. He raised a clawed hand and slashed at her. Mist had barely enough time to duck, only losing a few strands of her silver hair. She swung her sword at his arm, cutting it deeply and staining is light purple fur scarlet. Krysis yanked his arm away and stomped one foot down. Mist was able to dodge his Stalagmite just in time.

When she dashed at the Entelexeia again, Krysis swung his large tail, hitting Mist and sending her back. Krysis was over her again before she could recover, swinging his claws down. Mist squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the oncoming pain.

It never came. The sound of metal rang out and Mist opened her eyes. Flynn was standing in front of her, using his sword to block the attack. He glanced over his shoulder at her.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Y-yes sir, I- Flynn! Look out!" Flynn snapped his head around in time to catch the glint of the claws on Krysis's left hand as he swung it. Before he could react, pain exploded in Flynn's right side and he was thrown out of the way.

Flynn held his left hand over the wound to try stemming the blood flow. It helped little. Mist looked for the others, but they were to distracted by the seemingly endless horde of monsters to notice what was happening.

"Mist! Above you!" Flynn shouted, snapping Mist back into reality in time for her to leap out of the way of Krysis's Thunder Blade. She landed next to Flynn and glanced at him to see how serious the wound was. Flynn now had both hands over it and blood stained a large majority of his tunic and armor. His breathing was heavy and his face was getting pale.

Krysis lumbered over to the two, charging an energy attack. "Die, humans!"

Before he could fire it, Yuri slashed down Krysis's face with his sword, stopping the attack. He must have just noticed what was going on.

"I don't care whether or not you're an Entelexeia, but if you hurt one of my friends you won't leave here alive!" Yuri said. Krysis glared at him through one eye. The other was closed and bloody.

"Human, this will be the last mistake you will ever make!" Krysis roared, charging at Yuri and slashing at him. Yuri blocked it and leaped away.

"Azure Edge!" Yuri shouted, shooting the blue energy wave at Krysis who was able to block it with his arm. He took a step toward Yuri. At the same time, Mist leaped onto Krysis's back, hanging onto a wing with one hand and holding her raised sword with the other.

"This is for Flynn!" she shouted, plunging Last Fencer through his back, the tip protruding out of his chest. Blood dripped out of the Entelexeia's mouth as he collapsed, dead. Mist pulled her sword out and got off him. A white light enveloped Krysis's body and when it vanished, Krysis was gone, only leaving his glowing apatheia.

"Thank you for freeing me..." Mist realized that the voice came from the apatheia. The light faded from it and Mist picked it up. She was aware of the battle around her stopping. The monsters remaining turned tail and ran back toward the direction of Keiv Moc.

"Flynn!" Estelle shouted. She, Brave Vesperia, and the Shadow Wielders all came running toward them. Flynn was motionless, lying in a puddle of blood. Only the faint rise and fall of his chest proved he was still alive. Estelle collapsed on her knees next to him and a yellow-green glyph appeared beneath them as the princess used her healing artes. Mist looked around her. Knights and guildmen were helping one another for the first time she had ever known. Bodies were being carried into the city. She turned her attention back when she heard Estelle get up.

"I've done all I can for now," she said. "He'll need to be taken to the castle hospital immeadiately."

A howl sounded and Mist saw Ba'ul landing the Fiertia near them. Judith was leaning over the edge. "Ba'ul has restablized the aer krene. What happened to Kry-" She stopped herself when she saw Krysis's apatheia in Mist's hand. Then she saw Flynn. "Get inside the ship now!"

Yuri and Raven helped Flynn into the ship. When Ba'ul took off, Mist headed into the cabin where Flynn was taken to. Flynn was in the bed with Estelle bandaging the wound. When she finished, she glanced over at Mist.

"I haven't healed your wounds yet," she said and performed her healing artes on a shallow cut on Mist's stomach that she didn't realize was there until now. When Estelle was finished, Mist pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed.

"I'm staying with him..." she murmured half to herself. Estelle stared at her for a moment before bowing her head.

"I see. I'll leave you alone then." she replied, exiting the cabin. She looked over her shoulder at the two once before gently shutting the door.

Mist just sat there staring at Flynn, reflecting on the battle. If it hadn't been for him protecting her, she would be in the same state he was in, or worse. Still, it pained her to see the Commandant in this state.

Lowering her head, Mist whispered, "Thank you, sir..."


	3. Discovery

Two days after the battle, the group decided to go relax at Yumanju after having finally raised enough Gald for the ridiculous price. Mist stayed at the castle's hospital with Flynn, feeling that it was her fault that he ended up this way. Everyone tried to reassure her that it wasn't, but she just shrugged them off.

"Damn, I still can't believe it's 550,000 Gald for us all to come here," Yuri said.

"I still can't believe how much we had to sell to even get half that amount," Karol added.

"This had better be worth it," Rita grumbled. She and the girls went into the girls' side of the baths, the boys going in the other. Karol was the first to get changed, followed by Shu, Jiro, and Marumaro. Only Yuri and Raven still haven't changed and Karol was getting impatient.

"Come on, hurry up! Let's go inside!" he complained.

"Patience is a virtue, young'un," Raven replied, glancing at Karol from the chair he was sitting in. "Grown-ups move at a slower pace than you do."

"Just hurry up!" Shu whined.

"This place seems to have a very peaceful feeling to it. Don't you think?" Yuri said as he gazed out the window, completely ignoring Shu.

"Ya, check out that bamboo fountain over there. This place is pretty zen," Raven added.

"Come on, we can talk about all of that once we're in the water! Let's go!" Karol exclaimed. Yuri turned to him.

"You can go ahead if you want. We'll be in soon."

"Okay, sure! See you outside!" Karol replied, rushing outside with Shu and Marumaro. Only Jiro remained, crossing his arms.

"They are so overexcited," he grumbled. "And Marumaro will more than likely get up to his old trick. I don't want to get involved in that."

"Ah, youth! So pure, so innocent!" Raven sighed.

"Yeah, that's what I like most about Captain Karol," Yuri agreed. He turned to Raven. "But is it really okay if your chest gets wet, old man?"

"Hmmm... I don't think there'll be any problem. 'Sides, a little electrocution is good fer ya!" Raven replied.

"... Stay out of the water when I'm in there..." Yuri said.

"Why would it be a problem if his chest gets wet?" Jiro asked. Yuri glanced nervously at Raven, who hunched his shoulders.

"Um... well, you see..." Yuri started before Raven turned to Jiro, taking off his coat and lifting up his shirt. On the left side of his chest was a blastia implanted in it. It was shaped like a sun.

"Lost my heart in the Great War and the former Commandant, Alexei, replaced it with a damned blastia," Raven explained, lowering his shirt and putting the coat back on. "Kinda been depressed since then, but I'm better now."

Just then Karol came running in. "Guys, guys! You're not gonna believe this!"

"What's all the fuss, young'un?" Raven asked. "Yer not gonna tell me something fantastic like we can see inta the women's baths, right?"

"That's exactly what it is!" Karol exclaimed. "There's a hole in the middle of the wall separating the two baths!" Raven shot up out of his chair.

"Saints be praised...! Boy, why didn't ya say so sooner?! Hurry, hurry! The water's-a waitin'!" With that, Raven dashed out. Yuri sweatdropped.

"...And I guess the best thing about the old man is his... perverted enthusiasm?"

"Hold up. What about Marumaro?" Jiro asked.

"Oh, he's looking through it. That's how I found it in the first place," Karol replied.

"Oh hell. If Kluke gets wind of this we're all going down," Jiro mumbled.

Outside, Raven was peeking through the hole with Marumaro.

'I, I can't believe it,' Raven thought. 'Ya can really see through the partition! I've died an' gone ta heaven!' Raven peered harder. '...I can't hear anythin'... Maybe they haven't come in yet? Or did they already leave?'

"Maro! Where are the boss-ladies?!" Marumaro exclaimed.

"Shut up!" Raven hissed. "Do ya wanna be caught?!"

"Um, you guys might want to cut it out before the girls find out," Shu said nervously. "Kluke will murder us if she finds out!"

Back in the spa's lobby, Yuri and Jiro were waiting. A moment later, Judith came walking in.

"Ah, done so soon?" Yuri asked.

"Yes," Judith replied. "That was so refreshing!" At that moment, Rita, Estelle, Kluke, and Bouquet came running in.

"What the hell's with that bath?!" Rita exclaimed.

"Heh. Why are you so mad, Rita?" Yuri asked.

"We overheard what Karol was going on about," Estelle replied. "That's why we go out of the water so soon!"

"I don't see what the problem would've been with giving the boys a little show myself," Judith said. Jiro began to blush at what she was implying. "We could've gotten them wrapped around our little fingers."

"Have you no shame?!" Kluke exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?!" Rita demanded, pointing a finger at Judith. "You realized that they could see us from our side, didn't you?! That's why you got out so quickly!"

"Well, I wouldn't have minded staying in," Judith replied. "But I thought it'd be more fun to watch your reactitions from outside the bath once you found out."

"Oh why you...!" Bouquet growled, puffing out her cheeks.

"Unreal..." Kluke muttered.

"Judith... You're mean..." Estelle pouted.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Judith replied, not at all sorry. Raven, followed by Shu, Marumaro, and Karol, walked in. At the same time, Rita swung her arm out, startling Raven.

"I'm never getting in that perverted hot spring again!" Rita shouted.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the castle's hospital, Flynn was waking up.

"Oh thank goodness!" Mist said.

"Ugh, where am I?" Flynn asked.

"We're in Zaphias Castle," Mist repled. When Flynn tried to sit up, Mist quickly held him down. "You can't move just yet. Otherwise you risk reopening your wounds."

"What happened to Krysis?" Flynn asked.

"Yesterday, Brave Vesperia took his apatheia to Keiv Moc's aer krene. Estelle and Rita successfully converted it into the spirit of lightning, Volt." She chuckled a bit. "Apparently, when he asked what his new name should be, Karol had suggested The Big Purple Thunder King and Rita punched him."

"That sounds like Rita," Flynn laughed. "So where are the others anyway?"

"They went off to relax at Yumanju," Mist replied.

"You didn't go?"

Mist shook her head. "I didn't want to leave you, sir."

"Any word on whether the Balaur is in our world yet?" Flyn asked.

"Captain Sodia hasn't reported anything unusual yet. She and her brigade are still investigating Ilyccia. Next, they'll check Tolbyccia."

"We still need to find a way to send those Shadow Wielders back to their own world," Flynn said.

"I've already asked Witcher to have the mages in Aspio to find a way to make a Phantom Rift that can access other dimentions," Mist replied. "They're investigating the one at Phaeroh's Crag in Desier. They aren't too happy with this, especially with the new discovery Ruin's Gate made."

"A blastia?" Flynn asked.

"Yes," Mist said. "However, this one dates back to the end of the Gerios Civilization. According to the mages, this one is exceptionally powerful. They believe it could have led to the end of that civilization. For now it's being known as the Ultimate Blastia."

"The Ultimate Blastia?"

Mist nodded. "Apparently, it's power seems to almost equal Zaude's. The core is gigantic."

"So it could be used as a weapon then?" Flynn asked, narrowing his eyes.

"That's right. The blastia is under heavy guard to prevent anyone like Alexei from using it."

"I have a feeling that this discovery will lead to high consequences for us," Flynn sighed. "I hope we can be ready for it."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a dark area, a blue maiden-like spirit wielding a sword appeared.

"We have waited for a long time for that accursed blastia to be discovered by the humans," she said. A green pixie-like spirit appeared next.

"I pray the humans don't make the same mistake again, Undine," she said. A large red spirit appeared. He had large clawed hands and the lower half of him was shaped like a fish tail. He had a beak and two horns on each side of his head that were growing near each side of his beak.

"Our great king of that time, Alrodoh, fell to them. I still cannot believe that they had the gall to use his great apatheia for something that destructive." he growled. Then a purple eagle-shaped spirit appeared. His feathered arms ended in sharp-clawed hands. A dark thundercloud shaped like a funnel was wrapped around the lower half of his body.

"I understand why you are angry, Efreet, but the humans paid dearly for their disreapect," he replied. A brown sheep-like spirit appeared. It's tail was shaped like a lightning bolt. It let out a low howl.

"What is Gnome saying, Sylph?" Efreet asked the pixie-like spirit.

"He says he agrees with Volt, but the blastia had continued to exist, along with the Children of the Full Moon. And not to mention the Adephagos appeared because of this blastia," Sylph replied. Gnome howled again. "If this blastia were to be used again, Tthe Adephagos wil surely appear again, even if it isn't released from Zaude."

"We must come up with a plan to prevent the humans from using it," Undine said."

"We could just burn them to the ground," Efreet replied. Undine turned to her former leader.

"Efreet, you're solution for the issue with humans has not changed since you were the Entelexeia, Phaeroh."

"And your compassion for humans has not changed since you were Belius," Efreet countered.

"Stop it, you two," Sylph said. "Now is not the time to fight amongst ourselves."

"So what do we do then?" Volt asked.

"We should warn the humans about the dangers of the blastia," Sylph replied.

"And do you really think they'll listen?" Efreet retorted. "Humans are power-hungry. They will not lose the opportunity to take advantage of a new power, especially one as powerful as Alrodoh's apatheia."

Gnome howled. "Humans are not all like that," Sylph translated. "Some, like the ones we met, will listen to reason."

"And what about the ones who won't" Efreet asked. Sylph and the other spirits were silent as they couldn't come up with an answer. "The blastia will eventually be abused," Efreet continued. "And destroying ist is out of the question, as we don't possess that kind of power."

"What if we had more spirits to help us?" Undine suggested.

"You're saying we should allow our former bretheren to be killed to solve something that the humans caused?" Efreet asked. "Don't be ridiculous, Undine."

"Well we need to come up with a solution before it's too late," Sylph said.

"Yes. We can discuss this later," Volt agreed.

"Then I guess it's farewell for now," Undine said. With that, the five spirits vanished.


	4. Attack on Zaphias Castle

After the hot springs incident, Rita went back to Aspio to try investigating the Ultimate Blastia. Judith and Karol rode the Fiertia to Dahngrest to catch up on guild work while Yuri, Raven, Repede, Estelle, and the Shadow Wielders were dropped off at Zaphias. One week later, word had gone out around the lower quarter that Flynn had been released from the hospital. Unfortunately, when Yuri had gone to see him in the morning, Leblanc, Adecor, and Boccos were standing guard at Flynn's door.

"The commandant is very busy at the moment and won't be seeing anyone. Please come back later," Leblanc had told Yuri, a hint of smugness on his face. "Oh, and I wouldn't even think about using the window if I were you. Unless you want to get arrested by the Knights there."

Yuri gazed out of the window of his room at the lower quarter's inn and leaped out of it when he spotted the person he needed.

"Hey, Raven!" Yuri called out.

"Need somethin'?" Raven asked.

"I went to pay Flynn a visit, but Tweedle A, Tweedle B, and Leblanc were on guard duty. I was going to force my way through after hearing his window was also being guarded, but decided this wasn't the best time to get arrested again."

"An' what does all this hafta do with me?" Raven asked.

"I need you to convince your former lackeys to let me through," Yuri replied. "Think you can do it, Captain Schwann Oltorain?"

Raven sighed. "Fer cryin' out loud, it's not Schwann anymore. Alexei buried that miserable son of a bitch in Baction. I'm Raven, a guildsman. Not a Knight."

"Oh give me a break," Yuri replied. "It's just for this once. Plus you still have a debt to pay for double-crossing us."

"Okay, okay. Geez, don't need ta remind me," Raven said.

"Think maybe you could pull that trick like you did in the Weasand of Cados?" Yuri chuckled. "You know, before we knew you were Schwann? That ought to do the trick."

\- - -Flashback- - -

Yuri, Estelle, Rita, Karol, Raven, Repede, and Judith were running from Flynn's brigade after Raven fired an explosive arrow to make the monster Mist and a few Knights tamed freak out. This created a long enough distraction for the seven to slip past the first part of the blockade to Nordopolica and into the Weasand of Cados, a tunnel through the mountains dividing the continent of Desier. They had to meet with Belius by the night of the new moon. It was clear Flynn was planning something, and it didn't seem good.

They were just about to the exit when they spotted Leblanc, Adecor, and Boccos of the Schwann Brigade standing guard. The group took cover. The three Knights were facing away from them and were completely oblivious to their presence.

"Huh, guess it's only natural they'd guard this side, too," Raven said.

"Raven, can't you do something like you did before?" Karol asked.

"Best not ta press yer luck when the Knights're takin' their work so seriously," Raven replied, rubbing the stubble on his chin.

"They don't look that serious from here," Rita said, staring at the Knights through half-lidded eyes.

"I say, woe is me!" Adecor was whining.

"How has our illustrious Schwann Brigade ever been reduced to playing back-up for Flynn?!" Boccos added disbelievingly. Leblanc turned to them.

"Enough complaining! If you don't like it, we'd better produce some results!" he growled.

Just then, Repede turned around and crouched, growling. One of Flynn's Knights was running in their direction. "There they are! Capture them!"

"They found us...!" Karol gasped.

"What is this?" Adecor asked, he and Boccos turning around. On an overhang above where Yuri's group was, another Knight appeared.

"You three! Don't let them escape!" he ordered. Yuri and the others came out of hiding.

"Ah, if it isn't Mr. Yuri Lowell!" Leblanc exclaimed. However, since Raven was turned away, he didn't see his captain's face.

"Hey, Leblanc. It's been awhile," Yuri replied.

"A-and Your Highness!" Leblanc stammered, seeing Estelle with them. The three ran toward the group.

"What are we gonna do?!" Karol exclaimed. A tamed monster appeared and was galloping toward them from the opposite direction. Raven turned around.

"Oh, well. Here goes nothing!" Raven ran up in front of the group and halted. "A-ten-SHUN!"

Leblanc, Adecor, and Boccos stopped right away and stood at attention. "Y-yes sir!" Leblanc replied. Raven, followed by Yuri and the others ran right past them.

"Not sure what's going on, but now's our chance!" Yuri said as he ran past. The two Knights and the monster stopped in front of the three. Leblanc just then realized what had happened.

"Raven, what did you do...?" Karol asked.

"Ahh, it's nothin'," Raven replied.

\- - -End Flashback- - -

"Nah, I don't think that'd work anymore," Raven chuckled. "But I'll see if I can get you past."

as he and Raven entered the public quarter, Estelle was running toward them, her eyes wide with horror. Yuri knew instantly something was going on at the castle.

"What the hell happened?!" Yuri asked.

"Remnants of the Blood Alliance are attacking!" Estelle managed to gasp out.

"The Blood Alliance?!" Raven exclaimed. "I thought we took care of Barbos!"

"They've got a new leader and are out for revenge!" Estelle replied. "You need to come right away! They're overpowering the Knights!"

"Got it! Let's go!" Yuri shouted, taking off toward the castle.

"Wait!" Estelle said. "There's more! They've also hired Zagi!"

Yuri stopped in an instant and turned. "They hired that psychopathic maniac?!"

"They must be pretty desperate," Raven said. "But I thought Zagi was a member of Leviathon's Claw. Unless..."

"No way Leviathon's Claw and the Blood Alliance could be working together!" Yuri said. "We killed Yeager in Zaude."

"Yer forgetting two people who could be holding a grudge," Raven reminded him.

"Gauche and Droite..." Yuri murmured. "But what could they be holding against the Knights? I thought they'd be after Brave Vesperia."

"Alexei forced Yeager ta work for him," Raven replied. "And as a result, we had no choice but to kill him. I think that's reason enough for the girls ta hate the Knights."

"Enough!" Estelle exclaimed. "We need to hurry!"

The three ran as fast as they could to the castle. By the time they reached the noble quarter, they could see smoke billowing out of the castle.

"The Blood Alliance must still be bent on taking out the Knights so the guilds can take over," Yuri said as they passed the castle gates.

"Which would mean Flynn an' Ioder are in danger," Raven added.

"I'll look for Flynn," Yuri said. "Raven, you look for Ioder. Estelle, help out the Knights."

"Got it!" the two replied, bursting through the main doors. Inside, Knights were fighting against the Blood Alliance and Leviathon's Claw. There was no sign of Zagi or Gauche and Droite.

They made their way through the hall on the right, Raven breaking off into the hall leading to the Sword Stairs. Yuri and Estelle stopped at the hall leading to Flynn's room. Mist was up against the wall. A large diagonal gash ran across her chest. Estell knelt down and began using her healing artes while Yuri ran down toward Flynn's room.

'Please don't let them have gotten to Flynn!' Yuri pleaded silently. However, his hopes dropped when he saw Flynn's door had been broken down. Upon entering, Yuri wasn't too surprised by who he saw.

"I swear you're as hard to kill as a cockroach, Zagi," Yuri muttered. Zagi turned away from Flynn, who was barely able to stand. An X-shaped gash was on his chest. Zagi's blastia arm had been upgraded since their last battle, when he had appeared onboard Heracles. His red hair was slicked down instead of spiky.

"Yuri Lowell," Zagi replied, his voice higher pitched than last time, "How nice of you to show up so that I can kill you. You know, this is the place we first met! Don't you remember?"

"How could I ever forget the time someone mistakens me for Flynn," Yuri said.

\- - -Flashback- - -

Yuri was escaping the castle after being arrested for the millionth time after breaking into an aristocrat's house chasing after the thief that stole the lower quarter's aque blastia. He ran into a pink-haired noble named Estellise (though Yuri doesn't know her name yet) who needed to see Flynn. At the same time, the castle was being attacked, distracting the Knights enough for them to make it into Flynn's room. However, Flynn wasn't there.

"He's really keeping this place cleaned up," Yuri commented, looking around. "Flynn must be off gallivanting around somewhere."

"Then... that means I'm too late," Estelle murmured. Yuri turned to her.

"So what sort of wickedness did you do anyway?" Yuri asked.

"Me? I haven't done anything wrong," Estelle replied. Yuri walked over to Flynn's bed.

"And yet a bunch of Knights were chasing you around the castle... Yeah, that makes sense."

"Um, you see...Yuri!" Estelle suddenly exclaimed.

"Whoa... What is it?" Yuri asked.

"I can't be specific, but Flynn is in terrible danger!" Estelle replied. "I've got to go and warn him."

"So go if you want to go," Yuri said, sitting down on the bed. "What's wrong with that?"

"I wish I knew..." Estelle murmured.

"Listen, I've got something I've gotta take care of right away, too," Yuri replied. "As soon as things quiet down outside I want to get back to the lower quarter."

"In that case, would you take me with you? Please?" Estelle asked, running up to Yuri. "Other than Flynn, there's no one I can depend on. Will you at least help me get out of the castle? Please, I'm begging you."

"Okay I can see you're serious, but why don't you tell me your name first."

Before Estelle could reply, the door was knocked down, causing her to scream. She ran over then backed up slowly, a hand in front of her mouth. A spiky red haired man walked in and looked over at Yuri.

"Prepare to fall victim to my blade..."

Yuri was looking away, trying to ignore him. The man took out a curved dagger and swung it out, smashing a vase. Yuri got up.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Yuri asked.

"i am Zagi... The man who will end your life. Now die, Flynn Scifo!" Zagi replied before taking out his other dagger and leaping out at Yuri. Yuri took Second Star out just in time to block and push back.

"You got the wrong guy!" Yuri shouted.

"Die..." Zagi growled, almost taking Yuri's head off.

"You really should listen more!"

"My name is Zagi... Remember it well Flynn..." Zagi replied, leaping out of the way of Yuri's sword. He held both up to block one of Yuri's strike artes, Azure Edge.

"Listen, I'm not Flynn!" Yuri insisted, leaping back when Zagi swung a kick out.

"Heh heh heh... what's wrong?" Zagi taunted.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Yuri exclaimed, swinging his sword. Zagi tried dodging, but the sword made a shallow cut on his chest.

"I'm gonna kill you and carve your name into my blood..." Zagi continued.

"Yeah, that's pretty disgusting..." Yuri replied.

"Yeah, this is gonna be fun!" Zagi shouted. He charged at Yuri, but Yuri sidestepped.

"Azure Edge!" Yuri said, sending out a blue energy wave at Zagi. The attack sent Zagi into the wall. He slowly got up, chuckling like a maniac.

"Ahh, now I feel it!"

"You feel what? I'm not feeling anything over here," Yuri replied.

"Yes, so full of confidence," Zagi said. "Ah hah hah! That's it! That's it! Now I feel truly alive"

"What's with him all of a sudden?" Yuri murmured. Zagi laughed maniacally and leaped at Yuri, swinging a dagger. Yuri blocked it with his sword, struggling under the pressure. Estelle, meanwhile, had found a saber and a shield and ran over.

"Let me help you!" she said. Yuri shoved Zagi back.

"Stay away!" Yuri shouted.

"But- -" Estelle protested.

"Bring it! The more the merrier!" Zagi exclaimed.

"If things get out of hand, run for it," Yuri said.

"I will," Estelle replied.

"Oh, don't give up so soon. I haven't had a fight like this in years!" Zagi shouted. "Hah hah hah! This is fun!"

Yuri dashed at Zagi, bringing his sword down but Zagi blocked it.

"Relax," Estelle said. "He's just doing that to mess up our fighting." She put her shield up to block Zagi's attack and warded him off by swinging her saber.

"You relax!" Yuri countered. "Trust me, he's not thinking that hard."

"So... that's just who he is?" Estelle asked.

"The more you talk, the faster you die, Flynn," Zagi said, lashing out again at Yuri and managing to give Yuri a cut on the arm.

"Dammit, I am not... Urgh, never mind. You're not listening anyway," Yuri grumbled.

When Zagi went for Estelle again, Yuri got in between them, thrusting his katana out and stabbing Zagi in the shoulder. Zagi pulled himself away, one hand on the wound.

"You've got the wrong guy," Yuri said. "Aren't you supposed to know this stuff?"

"He's not Flynn!" Estelle insisted.

"Details, details. Bring it!" Zagi replied.

"This guy's nuts," Yuri said. "Flynn sure has made some interesting enemies." A red-eyed man with a knife attached to each wrist came in.

"Zagi, we're leaving," he said. "The Knights are onto us." Zagi punched him down, the man getting back up, rubbing his jaw. "How dare you!"

"Hah hah hah! Mind your own business! I'm just getting to the best part!" Zagi laughed.

"Hurry, before the Knights get here. Or would you rather have your fun end today?" the man asked. Zagi glanced over at him and cut him down. The man didn't get back up. Zagi glanced at Yuri, giving him a small, evil smile before turning and leaving the room.

\- - -End Flashback- - -

"Now, Yuri, it's time for you to die!" Zagi cried out, leaping at him. Yuri pulled his sword out.

'It's official. I'm cursed' he thought.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Raven ran through the hall leading to the throne room. He stopped as soon as he got there, he saw two girls, one with red hair and a red sword and the other with green hair and a green sword both looking to be about fifteen years old, were facing off against a group of guards defending Ioder.

"Gauche! Droite! Stop this now!" Raven shouted. The two girls spun around in surprise.

"Why are you here?!" Droite exclaimed.

"We are here to avenge Yeager," Gauche told Raven in a calm voice. "The Knights are partly at fault for his death. However, Brave Vesperia is next."

"Revenge isn't always the answer," Raven said.

"It doesn't matter!" Droite shouted, stamping one foot down. "We won't feel right until we DO something!"

"Enough, Droite," Gauche said.

"Sorry, Gauche," Droite replied. Gauche turned to Raven.

"If it wasn't for the Knights or Brave Vesperia, Yeager would still be alive. He was like a father to us after helping us raise money for the orphanage in Capua Torim."

"Then help the orphanage instead of doing all of this," Raven replied.

"Sorry, but that's not going to happen," Gauche said. She and Droite raised their swords. Raven sighed and drew out his bow and readied an arrow. Raven saw with satisfaction that Ioder had already been escorted out of the room by the Knights, leaving him and the girls alone.

"There's still time. Don't do something yer gonna regret later," Raven warned.

"We have no regrets," Gauche replied. The twins dashed at Raven, who leaped up into the air, using Serpent. The girls got out of the way in time to avoid the explosive arrow. Raven landed and the girls held their swords in front of them.

"In an instant we echo and our hearts meet..." both said at the same time. Raven folded his bow into the melee form and held it up like a shield, preparing for their Mystic Arte. "Impact Cross!"

Both of them shot out diagonaly, colliding with Raven and sending him flying back. Casey's compact fell out of his pocket. When he got back up he quickly grabbed the compact and paused. Gauche and Droite had lowered their swords, both staring wide-eyed at the compact.

"Where did you get that?" Gauche demanded. "Give it to us!"

"Why does it matter to you?" Raven asked.

"Please." Gauche was begging now. "It belonged to Casey, someone very dear to Yeager."

"Someone dear to Yeager, huh?" Raven murmured. He stared at the only memento he had of the woman he loved, the woman who died in the Great War. He looked back up at the twins and tossed it over to them. Gauche caught it with a hint of surprise on her face.

"Wh-what?" Gauche stammered.

"Why are you simply giving it to us?" Droite asked.

"You need something ta remind you of Yeager and I'm givin' it ta you," Raven replied. The girls glanced at each other then looked back at Raven. Gauche pulled out a bow and tossed it to Raven.

"This...this is Casey's bow...!" Raven gasped. "I've been looking all over for this!"

"We're even now, but then next time we meet we won't go easy," Gauche warned. She and Droite pulled out smoke bombs and threw them down, making their escape.

"Next time, huh..." Raven murmured, staring down at the bow, Divine Cannon. "I'll be ready."


	5. The Balaur Discovered

"Blue Explosion!" Shu shouted, taking out more of the red-eyed members of Leviathon's Claw out. Bouquet and Hippo had merged with Saber-Tiger and the Shadow was using Blitz Claw, moving so fast that the only thing that proved he hit his mark was the guildmen flying into the castle walls.

"Conquer!" Jiro said. Minotaur shot lightning out from between his horns, electrocuting some of the Blood Alliance. Jiro pulled his sword out to block another's. Then two members of Leviathon's Claw leaped out at him from behind, bringing their knives down.

"Feather Protect!" The blue barrier produced by Phoenix deflected the men.

"Thanks, Kluke," Jiro said, swinging his sword and cutting the man he had locked swords with down.

"No problem. Just watch your back," Kluke replied. Jiro's eyebrow twitched in annoyance at being criticized, but didn't reply.

"Heh, she's got a point, Jiro," Minotaur chuckled.

"Oh, would you shut the hell up already and fight?!" Jiro snapped back.

"Hey, I'm just sayin'," Minotaur replied, rolling his red eyes. Phoenix came over and smacked Minotaur upside the head, Jiro wincing when the pain was transferred to him.

"Enough bickering!" she demanded. "If you have time to argue then you should have time to drive these men away!" She glanced down when Estelle came running over.

"Have you seen Yuri or Raven yet?" she asked, worry evident. "They've been looking for Flynn and Ioder for awhile now. Oh, I hope they're alright!"

"I'm right here!" Raven called out, running over to them. Estelle noticed that he was carrying Divine Cannon.

"Where did you get that bow?" she asked.

"I had a little run-in with Gauche an' Droite. In the end, I gave them Casey's compact an' they gave me her bow. I'll tell you the whole story later. For now, we should try ta find Yuri!"

"Oh give me a break!" Blue Dragon exclaimed. "I was having so much fun!"

"Heh heh," Estelle giggled. "You sound like Judith!"

"Come on, big guy," Shu said, looking up at the Shadow. "You'll have plenty more chances to fight."

"I'd better," Blue Dragon huffed, crossing his arms.

"We should check Flynn's room first!" Estelle said. "Follow me!"

She, Raven, and the Shadow Wielders, Bouquet and Hippo separating from Saber-Tiger, ran down the halls leading to Flynn's room. Upon entering the room, they saw Yuri in a heated battle with Zagi. Both were taking injuries, though it looked like Yuri was winning. Estelle slipped past them and crouched next to Flynn, who was barely hanging on to consciousness.

"Lady...Estel...lise..."Flynn murmured, blood running out of his mouth.

"Just hang on, Flynn," Estelle said, holding her arm out. "I'll heal you."

As Estelle started using her healing artes, Raven and the Shadow Wielders joined Yuri. Zagi was thrown out the window, the group leaping out after him.

"Damn, he's just as crazed as ever," Raven commented.

"You mean he's always this nuts?" Shu asked.

"Pretty much," Yuri replied. "This guy is really getting on my nerves. He simply refuses to die!"

"Sorry, Yuri," Zagi said. "But I won't die until I kill you!"

"We'll just see about that!" Yuri said. "Destruction Field!" Yuri flipped into the air, bringing his sword down. Zagi leaped back in time to avoid being hit. The katana left a giant crack in the ground from the impact. Raven charged at Zagi, pulling out his knife and performing his arcane arte, Just Like Dancing. The attack left deep wounds in Zagi, but it didn't stop him from counterattacking, swinging his daggers and cutting Raven's back before knocking him away.

"Damn bastard..." Raven hissed, getting back up and readying an arrow. "Rain!" He shot the arrow, which was covered with energy, and piercing Zagi's shoulder. As Zagi ripped it out, Saber-Tiger appeared behind him, Marumaro on his back.

"Blitz Claw!" Marumaro shouted. Saber-Tiger's paw glowed with energy and he swiped at Zagi, sending the assassin flying to where Hippo was. Hippo threw a punch, causing Zagi to fall to the ground. Minotaur loomed over him.

"Waves of Rage!" Jiro shouted. Minotaur let loose the series of swift, powerful punches, driving Zagi further into the ground.

"Eternal Breath!" Kluke said. Phoenix breathed flames, engulfing Zagi. Blue Dragon was up next.

"Blue Explosion!" Shu shouted. Blue Dragon released a blue energy beam, causing an explosion that sent Zagi well past the barrier and far out of sight.

"Whew, glad we won't have to see that freak again!" Shu said after the Shadows vanished in a blue light.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Yuri replied. "That guy's survived being on fire and getting shot with aer. I wouldn't be surprised if he survived all of that."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three days passed. The Knights were replairing the castle. The guildmen had set fire to a few areas, but the damage wasn't too severe. Flynn had been treated be several medics, including Estelle, and was well enough that he didn't have to go back into the hospital. Mist was the same was, although she was now short-tempered and often complaining she was sore.

Rita, Karol, and Judith came back immediately after getting news of this.

"I wish I was fighting..." Judith had whined.

"You're...scary..." Rita had replied, taking a few steps back from the Krityan.

Ioder had only suffered minor injuries. However, the assault was going to be taken directly to Harry Whitehorse. If these attacks continued, a full-blown war between the Union and the Empire would erupt, so soon after one had been avoided, back when Don Whitehorse was still alive.

Sodia had reported in with bad news. Mantaic was attacked.

"What?!" Flynn and Mist exclaimed. Brave Vesperia stared wide-eyed, but the Shadow Wielders were clueless as to what was so significant about it.

"Mantaic is so isolated in the desert!" Mist said. "How could it be attacked?!"

"Eyewitnesses reported a shadow in the shape of a three-headed dragon slipping past the barrier before rising out of the ground. Several buildings were destroyed in mere seconds," Sodia replied.

"The Balaur!" Shu exclaimed.

"So it did escape into this world," Kluke said.

"I see," Flynn said. "Thank you for your report, Captain Sodia. You are dismissed."

"Yes sir!" Sodia replied, saluting, before leaving. Flynn turned to the Shadow Wielders.

"So that proves then that the Shadow is indeed in our world," he said. He turned to Mist. "We'll be heading off to Nordipolica to warn Natz, as Nordipolica's the only other city on Desier. We'll be taking several other brigades with us as well." He turned to Karol. "I assume Brave Vesperia will be assisting?"

"Of course!" Karol replied. "We already swore before that we'd help defend Terca Lumires against the Balaur if it turned up."

"All right," Flynn said. "Get plenty of rest. Tomorrow we head out to Desier."


	6. To Nordipolica

The next morning, everyone boarded the Fiertia. Several brigades, including the Sodia Brigade, were headed to Nordipolica by sea.

"I hate Desier so much..." Mist moaned. "It's so hot there... I'd rather go to the Blade Drifts of Zopheir! At least there you can bundle up as much as you want."

"I agree," Rita said. "There's nothing you can do about a desert."

"Yes, you have to remove clothing, and there's a limit to how much you can take off," Judith added.

"Maybe yer just not takin' enough off!" Raven chimed in.

"Oh shut the hell up, old man!" Rita exclaimed, punching him halfway across the ship.

"I don't see why you're complaining," Yuri said. "We're not even going to the Sands of Kogorh."

"It's close enough for me to feel the heat," Mist replied.

"What a whiner..." Jiro mumbled. Mist's ear twitched, indicating she heard. She slowly turnered her head to him, her eyes blazing dangerously.

"Care to repeat that?"

"Enough already," Flynn said. "Now's not the time to make another attempt on someone's life, Mist."

"Wait, you mean she's tried killing someone over an insult before, right...?" Kluke asked, her eyes narrowed and her mouth opened in a nervous smile. She was sweatdropping and backed up a few steps.

"Yes, you could say that..." Flynn replied.

"Oh give me a break! I was drunk!" Mist countered.

"Then maybe you shouldn't have participated in that stupid drinking contest at the bar," Flynn said.

"Hey, I won, didn't I?" Mist asked with a smug smile.

"Heh, when was this?" Yuri asked.

"Just last month," Flynn replied, looking embarrassed that his second-in-command did that. "Some guild guy said something to her and she went for his throat."

"He said I looked like a whore!" Mist exclaimed. Yuri started cracking up. Mist glared at him through narrowed eyes. "Oh you are so dead!"

She leaped at Yuri, but Flynn grabbed her, pinning her down while she thrashed wildly. "Calm down already!" he shouted. She huffed and Flynn let her up, Mist dusting herself off and shooting Yuri one final glare.

"Yeah, you'd better do what your boyfriend wants...Oops!" Yuri added with a sly smirk. Mist went bright red, her golden eyes wide in embarrassment. Flynn just glanced between them, confusion etched in his face.

'He's so thickheaded...' Rita thought, crossing her arms. 'Is he really the only person who hasn't noticed yet?'

"Huh? What's Yuri talking about?" Shu asked, glancing at Mist, who was breaking into a sweat. "Isn't she just Flynn's subordinate?"

"Oh, Shu, you can be so dense..." Kluke sighed. She glanced at Bouquet. "About most things, anyway."

"You might wanna be careful with a girl that fiery, Flynn," Yuri continued. "You're first night in the bedroom with her could be your last."

No one thought it was possible, but Mist's face got even redder. "Sh-shut the hell up!" She stammered. "Wh-who asked you for y-you're opinion!"

"Ah, young love!" Raven said in a singsong tone.

"Dragon Claw!" Mist shouted, swinging her sword and producing a red energy wave which hit Raven, sending him flying through the cabin wall. Tokunaga came running over. Even though thay couldn't see his eyes through his shades, it wasn't hard to guess they were burning with rage.

"Do you have any idea how much it'll cost me to repair that?!" he exclaimed, pointing a trembling finger to the gigantic hole where Raven was crawling out.

"Be a man and deal with it, Tokunaga!" Mist retorted. "The old man had it coming!"

"Hang on," Estelle whispered to Bouquet. "Did she really just refer to Raven as the old man?"

"Yeah, why?" Bouquet asked.

"Well she usually refers to him as 'Sir Raven' or even a few times 'Captain Schwann' slips out. But never 'Old Man'," Estelle replied.

"How old is he?" Bouquet asked.

"He's 35," Estelle answered.

"Really? I thought he was in his late 40s," Bouquet said, sweatdropping.

"Sooo, back to Flynn and Mist's relationship..." Yuri said, trying his hardest not to laugh.

"It's not like that, Yuri!" Mist shouted, her hands going into fists.

"Oh, so you two are already a thing then?"

"NO!"

"It's not nice to deny it," Judith cooed.

"Stay out of this!" Mist retorted.

"Um, could someone please explain what Yuri is talking about?" Flynn asked.

"Forget it, Knight-boy," Rita replied.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They had finally reached Nordipolica, though Mist was still pissed at Yuri. Upon entering the colliseum, they were greeted by Natz.

"Welcome!" He said. "It's nice to see you all again!"

Even though he was trying his best to be friendly, it was clear he hadn't gotten over Belius's death.

"There's someone I'd like you to meet," Estelle said. Undine appeared next to her.

"Natz!" she exclaimed. "I'm glad to have the chance to see you again!"

"Wait a minute... Duce Belius?!" Natz exclaimed.

"I was once Belius, but I am now the spirit of water, Undine," she replied. "How are things going in Palestralle?"

"Things are going well, Duce," Natz said. "We've got the 100 man melee reopened."

"Natz, I can no longer be the Duce of Palestralle. That position is now yours, my friend," Undine said. She faded away with those last words.

"We took Belius's apatheia to the aer krene at the Blade Drifts of Zopheir and transformed her into a spirit," Estelle explained.

"Thank you... for allowing me to see her once again," Natz replied.

"Sooo, about the 100 man melee you mentioned..." Judith started, taking a step forward, but Yuri interrupted her.

"Now's not the time to get your joy in seeing enemies in pain, Judy," he said.

"What's going on then?" Natz asked. Flynn stepped forward.

"Has Nordipolica been attacked?" he asked.

"Besides by your brigade and the Hunting Blades, no," Natz replied, narrowing his eyes. Flynn looked away, remembering the blockade and the attempt to arrest Belius. "Why are you asking?"

"Mantaic was recently attacked by a three-headed dragon," Flynn replied. "We were wondering if it's already struck here as well."

"Well as you can see, we're perfectly fine. Now why don't you Knights mind your own damned business and we'll mind ours," Natz replied coldly.

"Tensions between the guilds and the Empire haven't lightened up one little bit," Karol whispered to Rita. She gave a small nod, as if agreeing.

"I've already heard what happened in Mantaic and I've stepped up our defence," Natz continued. "Now unless you want to stir up trouble with your presence, I'd suggest you leave. Now."

"But-" Flynn protested, but Yuri put a hand on his shoulder.

"Forget it, Flynn. I don't think you'd get much welcome when trying to help out the guilds."

"So you won't accept any help at all?!" Mist demanded.

"That is not entirely true. Guilds seek help from other guilds, but not the Knights. When we gave up our rights as imperial citizens we intended to live a life free from the Empire. If the Knights start helping, well it gets in the way of that concept."

"So it's all about pride then?" Mist asked. Flynn walked over to her.

"Mist, let's go," he whispered in her ear. "It looks like there isn't much we can do now."

"Brave Vesperia, however, is allowed to assist us," Natz said.

"Sorry, Natz, but if you kick the Knights out, you kick us out," Yuri said.

"That's right!" Karol agreed.

"I see," Natz replied. "Then I'm sorry we couldn't work out an agreement."

"Natz, I've got Knights headed here to help out," Flynn said. Natz's eye twitched in annoyance. "Could you at least allow them to arrive so I can tell them your decision?"

"Very well," Natz replied. The group turned and left. Upon going out the colliseum, they spotted imperial ships heading their way. Flynn went to the docks as the first ship arrived. A Knight came out and he and Flynn talked before the Knight turned and went back in the ship. The ship backed up and turned, heading further west. Flynn signalled to the other ships starting to arrive to folow that ship.

"Sir?" Mist asked.

"If we can't defend Nordipolica, then we'll at least defend the way here," Flynn replied. He turned to the group. "We're heading for the Mother Cados Mountains."

"Alright. That way we won't piss Natz off more than he already is," Yuri said. Judith put her hand to the side of her head and a moment later, Ba'ul was landing the Fiertia in the water, the group going inside the ship. Ba'ul took off with a howl and headed off toward the Mother Cados Mountains. He landed at the shore, dropping the group off. The other ships were just now docking.

Upon going on land, Flynn ordered Knights to guard the entrance to the Weasand of Cados while the others spread out in the area between the mountains and Nordipolica.

After what seemed like forever, screams sounded.

"What the hell was that?!" Raven exclaimed.

"It came from the Mother Cados Mountains!" Mist replied.

"Oh no!" Flynn said. "They must have encountered the Balaur!"

"Phoenix and I can get the Knights over there!" Kluke said, summoning her Shadow.

"Okay," Flynn replied. "Don't take too long."

"Got it," Kluke said before looking up at her Shadow. "Phoenix! Teleport!" Phoenix let out a shrill bird's cry as she and Kluke vanished in a white light.

"Now let's go!" Flynn ordered the Knights around them.

"Yes, sir!" they all replied. Brave Vesperia, the Knights, and the Shadow Wielders headed off to the Weasand of Cados. They immediately saw a gigantic three-headed red and brown dragon looming over the brigade guarding the entrance. The bottom half of it was connected to the ground.

"That's the Shadow of Balaur!" Shu shouted. He and the other three summoned their Shadows.

"Ho boy, now we have to deal with him," Minotaur grumbled.

"We'll take him down this time, for justice always prevails!" Saber-Tiger exclaimed.

"Would you shut the hell up with all that justice shit?!" Blue Dragon demanded sharply.

"Um well, I think it's kinda cool," Hippo said nervously. Blue Dragon's red eyes locked with Hippo's.

"If you pull that Hippoman crap again, I'll roast you alive!"

"You've already roasted my face once..." Saber-Tiger murmured, staring at Blue Dragon through half-opened eyes and sweatdropping.

"Come on, let's all get along now, maro," Marumaro said cheerfully. Blue Dragon glared down at the Devee.

"Stay outta this, pipsqueak," he growled. Marumaro bared his fangs, trying to look intimidating, but Blue Dragon laughed at this pathetic attempt.

"Come on! Quit arguing and let's go!" Shu shouted. The four Shadows turned to where Brave Vesperia and the Knights were already fighting the Balaur.

"If you have the time to argue, then you could help us!" Rita shouted after casting Tidal Wave. A white light suddenly shone and Phoenix, Kluke, and the rest of the Knights appeared. Sodia was one of them, her violet cat-like eyes widening when she saw the fighting. The Balaur was taking one Knight after another down with little effort.

"Let's attack!" she shouted.

"Who died and made her Commandant?" one Knight whispered to another.

"Shut up!" the other hissed. "You want her to hear you?!"

The Balaur folded his wings in, dark energy being charged.

"Everyone, take cover!" Shu shouted, but it was too late. Balaur used his strongest attack, Kronos, knocking away every Knight, including Brave Vesperia. He roared and dissipated, the particles moving off the land and over the sea.

"Damn! He's running away again!" Jiro exclaimed.

"Looks like it's heading toward Ilyccia," Mist said to Flynn.

"To be more exact, looks like he's headed for Aspio!" Rita exclaimed.

"You don't think...?" Mist said.

"If he's heading for Aspio," Yuri said. "he might be after the Ultimate Blastia."


	7. Defending the Ultimate Blastia

Everyone went back to Zaphias castle to come up with a plan to fight the Balaur again, expecially if it gains possession of the Ultimate Blastia. Brave Vesperia, the Shadow Wielders, Flynn, and Mist were in Flynn's room.

"We'll need to warn the Aspio mages about the Balaur," Rita said.

"We don't know for sure if it's headed for Aspio," Flynn replied. "We'll need to warn the residents of Halure, Deidon Hold, and Capua Nor."

"In other words, every Ilyccian town," Yuri said. "But it would seem more reasonable that it's going for the Ultimate Blastia."

"Hold on," Judith interrupted. "We don't even know if the Balaur even knows the Ultimate Blastia exists. It could just happen to be escaping in that direction."

"Do you think you could ask some nearby Entelexeia took keep a lookout for it?" Mist asked.

"I'll try. I think Altima is the closest. I'll contact her first," Judith replied, putting her hand to the side of her head.

"In the meantime we should head for Aspio," Flynn said. "I'll order Knights to guard the other Ilyccian towns, including a higher guard on Zaphias. The Sodia Brigade will accompany us."

"That woman gives me the chills," Mist murmured.

"We should leave right away," Kluke said. "The Balaur travels quickly when it breaks itself apart."

"Mist, inform Sodia of my desicion. Tell her to have her brigade prepare to depart. We'll be meeting outside the noble quarter in three hours," Flynn said, turning to Mist. "In the meantime, I'll assign the others where they'll be positioned."

"Yes, sir," Mist replied, leaving the room. She spotted a Knight passing and stopped him.

"Do you know where Captain Sodia is?" she asked.

"I believe she's in the dining hall," he replied.

"Thank you," Mist said. She headed down the hall and took a right down the stairs and went down that hall until she reached the dining hall. She went through the large doors. Several Knights were eating, though Mist easily spotted Sodia's bright orange hair, even from a distance. Going over to her table, she sat down.

"Captain Sodia, Commandant Flynn has ordered your brigade to accompany us and Brave Vesperia to Aspio," Mist said. "You are to meet us outside the noble quarter in three hours."

"Understood," Sodia replied. "So how are things going with you and the Commandant?"

Mist began blushing. "What do you mean?"

"Rumors are flying around the castle that you two are having an affair," Sodia replied.

"Th-that's not true!" Mist stammered, blushing even harder.

"I am a bit jealous, though," Sodia continued. "He's the kind of man I would like to spend the rest of my life with. The fact you're his second-in-command give you many more opportunities to be in a relationship. Although, not to be rude to the Commandant, he's a bit too thick-headed to realize when a girl has a crush on him."

"You're telling me..." Mist muttered miserably.

"Well, anyways, I'll have the brigade ready in three hours," Sodia said. "I'll see you then."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yuri and Repede headed down to the lower quarter to prepare for the trip. Ted stopped them at the inn.

"Yuri, where are you going this time?" he asked.

"I'm going to Aspio. Take care of Hanks while I'm gone," Yuri replied.

"I can take care of myself just fine," Hanks said, coming over. "It's you who need to be taken care of."

"Oh give me a break," Yuri replied. "I'm doing just fine. You're the one who's probably gonna kick the bucket soon,"

"I may be old, but I'm not that old," Hanks said. "Just make sure you don't go dying in any ditches."

"I thought you'd be grateful if I did," Yuri replied sarcastically.

"Heh, wouldn't be the same without you getting in trouble with the Knights," Hanks laughed. "After all, you're practically living in jail."

"Aw, I'm hurt," Yuri said. "I don't get thrown in jail that often." He looked over to where Ted was petting Repede. "We'd better get ready to leave."

"Tell me all about you're trip when you get back!" Ted said. Yuri put a hand on his head and started messing up his dark green hair.

"Don't worry, I will," Yuri replied.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I've contacted Altima," Judith told Flynn. "She told me she'll keep a sharp lookout and will warn the other Entelexeia about the Balaur."

"That's good," Flynn replied. Judith walked over to him and locked her violet eyes with his blue ones. Flynn began blushing at her sudden closeness. Her breasts were dangerously close to him and he was reminded of the time Chastel accidentaly shoved his face into her breasts after he was forced to get involved in the bar fight Yuri started when Yuri was in the Knights. It wasn't one of his prouder moments and it continued to haunt him.

"What do you think about Mist?" Judith asked.

"Huh?" Flynn replied. "What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is do you like her?" Judith said, grinning mischieviously.

"Um, I guess so?" Flynn replied.

"I mean, do you like her as more than a friend or second-in-command," Judith pressed.

"Um, Judith, that's kinda personal..." Flynn said, beginning to blush.

"Oh, so you do?" Judith said.

"No! That's not it!" Flynn exclaimed.

"Aw, what a shame," Judith sighed, turning around and heading for the door. "Because Mist sure seems to like you a lot."

"She does?" Flynn asked.

"Just how dense can you possibly be?" Judith replied, turning her head sharply to him. "She's been working right beside you this whole time and you haven't even noticed?! No wonder you're single!" She headed out the door.

"Judith, wait!" Flynn said, but Judith had already closed the door.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jiro spotted Kluke staring at the fountain in the lower quarter. An old man was talking to her.

"...The fountain is powered by the aque blastia," he was saying. "It was stolen by a mage, but Yuri got it back."

"This is just amazing," Kluke replied. "I didn't know these stones could power so many things."

"Well, Rita could probably tell you more about the cores, though you'd probably be in for a long lecture," the old man added with a laugh.

"Thanks for telling me about this, Hanks," Kluke said.

"Pleasure's all mine, miss," Hanks replied. Kluke noticed Jiro coming over.

"Hey, Jiro, the blastia are just facinating!" Kluke exclaimed.

"Well, machines are in your interest," Jiro replied.

"These are much more advanced than machines!" Kluke said. "Just a single blastia core can power an entire house! And they don't require electricity to work! I bet we could power a mechat with one of these. Then we wouldn't have to worry about a crash landing if we run out of fuel."

"Yeah, that had been a close call," Jiro said with a smirk.

\- - - Flashback - - -

While flying over the desert in the mechat, Kluke and Bouquet had been arguing nonstop about whose ruins they were going to visit next. Shu and Marumaro managed to distract them for a short time, but then they went straight back to arguing.

"I don't care what you asy, it's my turn next!" Bouquet shouted.

"You can keep thinking that all you want, but your ruins are just too far away!" Kluke retorted.

"Come on! No fair!" Bouquet exclaimed. "We already went to your ruins! You got that cool pendant, remember?" Bouquet pointed to the feather-shaped crystal necklace Kluke was wearing.

"That has nothing to do with it!" Kluke replied.

"Oh, I see. You're just upset because Shu and I are engaged, is that it?" Bouquet countered.

"What?"

"Oh wait, you're jealous that I'm so much prettier," Bouquet continued, striking a pose.

"Let me just say thinking's not your strong suit, Bouquet," Kluke replied.

"Look, you're not so hot just cause you can fly this thing!" Bouquet shouted.

"Maybe, but at least I serve a purpose," Kluke said smugly. "What is it you do around here again?"

Bouquet gasped then looked down. "That's so mean... You don't have the right to say something like that to me, Kluke! I can do lots of thinks to help you guys!"

"Woah, fine, calm down," Kluke said.

"I will help! Uh..." Bouquet said. "I don't know..."

"Enough, you two." Both girls turned to see Zola climbing up the ladder to the deck.

"Zola!" Kluke exclaimed.

"No matter where we go next, there's something we must do first," Zola said, walking over to stand next to Kluke.

"Okay, what is it?" Kluke asked. Zola pointed to the fuel gauge bar. There was a yellow bar followed by a red empty bar. The yellow light vanished, signalling the tank was empty. Kluke screamed as the mechat began quickly desending.

\- - - End Flashback - - -

"We were lucky a Grankingdom fueling station was nearby," Kluke said. "Come to think of it, where's Bouquet now?"

"Probably with Shu, doing who-knows-what with him," Jiro replied.

"I hope we catch the Balaur this time," Kluke murmured. "We can't afford to let it keep escaping."

"I know what you mean," Jiro said.

"Hey, hold on," Kluke said. "Where's Marumaro?"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marumaro was chasing a bunch of girls around the public quarter. Raven stood at the side, amusement on his face.

"Ya need ta pick those legs up, buddy," Raven said. "Otherwise the girls'll get away."

"Raven!" Raven jumped and spun around. Rita was there, staring death at him. "That creep had squeezed my ass and now I hear you encouraging him?! I'll kill you!" A red magic circle appeared under her.

"W-wait, Rita!" Raven said, holding his hands up. "This is all just some big misunderstandin'!"

"I'm not gonna hear it! Fireball!" Rita shouted, blasting Raven away. She charged another one and shot it at Marumaro as he ran past, sending him flying on top of Raven. Jiro and Kluke came running over.

"Why am I not surprised..." Kluke muttered, sweatdropping.

"Those two had it coming," Jiro added, crossing his arms. "Though I highly doubt they learned their lesson..."

"I hope you two are ready..." Rita growled, walking over to the two perverts.

"N-now Rita, remember yer blood pressure..." Raven said.

"You're dead!"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone was on the Fiertia, including the Sodia Brigade. Raven and Marumaro were late and when they went to search for them, they found the two implanted in a building, smoke billowing from them. It took several minutes to pry them out.

"R-Rita, yer a monster..." Raven had moaned.

"M-maro... it hurts..." Marumaro added.

Once they got back in the ship, Ba'ul took off, headed north toward the mountains where Aspio was located, passing over Deidon Hold and Halure. Estelle was telling Yuri and Karol about where Halure got its name from.

"Three type of flowers grow on the tree barrier," she was saying. "The harmonia, the luluria, and the renin. The beginnings of their names make Halure."

"Heh, guess you learn something new every day," Yuri replied.

Finally, Ba'ul landed in front of the cavern in the mountain, Aspio, and dropped everyone off before taking off again.

"Ah, nothing like Aspio!" Rita exclaimed as they passed through the main entry in the cavern, going up the stairs bridging over one another onto a large platform. She turned to Flynn.

"You can let the Knights go now. I've already informed the head of Aspio about this."

"Okay. Captain Sodia, spread your Knights out. We don't want the Balaur taking possession of the Ultimate Blastia," Flynn said.

"Yes, sir," Sodia replied. She started giving orders to her brigade as Rita led the group down several flights of stairs to the cavern floor. In the center, surrounded by guards, was a spade-shaped blastia with a glowing blue core. The blastia itself looked to be about ten feet tall.

"This thing doesn't even compare to the size of Zaude's core," Yuri said. "How could it be just as powerful?"

"Because the core it the apatheia of an ancient Entelexeia king," Estelle replied.

"How'd you know that?" Karol asked.

"The five spirits are telling me that their king, Alrodoh, died during the Gerios Civilization and his apatheia was formed into a blastia," Estelle said.

"With any luck, the Balaur won't reach this," Rita said. Yuri pulled out his katana.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that..."

A little ways away, dark particle combined into the Shadow of Balaur.

"You've gotta be kidding..." Mist grumbled.

"Sodia! Get your brigade down here!" Flynn shouted. A "Yes sir" came from above them. A magic circle appeared in front of the Balaur and dark energy was shot at the group. The attack took them by surprise and they didn't have enough time to react before they were blasted away.

"D-dammit," Yuri hissed, struggling to his feet.

"He's powerful..." Mist commented.

"Is everyone alright?!" Flynn exclaimed.

"We're good," Karol replied. He got up, pulling his gigantic hammer out of his bag. Mist, Estelle, and Rita began preparing spells. Judith pulled out her spear and charged at the Balaur alongside Yuri and Flynn. The Shadow Wielders summoned their Shadows.

"Crushing Nail!" Shu shouted. Blue Dragon's hands were covered in blue energy in the shape of blades and slashed at the Balaur. At the same time, Minotaur came up next to the Balaur as it tried dodging.

"Waves of Rage!" Jiro shouted. Minotaur punched the Balaur to the ground and got out of the way as Judith began performing her Mystic Arte.

Lightning came out of nowhere around her, some striking the Balaur. She leaped up into the air, her spear, Brionac, covered in blue energy and the image of a moon apeared above.

"Radiant...Moonlight!" she shouted, bringing the spear down and striking the Balaur. She leaped out of the way as Flynn readied his Mystic Arte.

He held up the White Knight Sword and golden energy enveloped it and pulled it back.

"Ligh Dragon...Destruction!" Flynn swung his sword, three golden dragons coming out and carrying the Balaur into the air. Mist activated her Mystic Arte.

"Queen of all dragons, hear my call and appear before me!" Mist chanted. A magic circle appeared above the still airborne Balaur and a high dragon made out of red energy came down on top of it. Mist hopped onto it's back as the high dragon flew up, she and Mist both charging an energy attack.

"High Dragon Fury!" Mist shouted. She swung her sword and a large energy wave shot out while the high dragon fired an energy beam, both hitting their mark. The high dragon landed and vianished when Mist leaped off of her.

"Oh power that is at the root of all creation..." Rita chanted, red, green, purple, and blue energy spheres circling her before shooting out and expanding, surrounding her and the Balaur. "Oh memories enscribed in ages past, hear my call and arise before me..." She pulled her scroll out, twirling around and producing a barrier around her. "Ancient Catastrophe!" Energy from the four elemental spheres reflected off the barrier, creating an explosion the sent the Balaur flying back.

"Nightengale!" Estelle said, completing her spell and healing everyone.

"Blitz Claw!" Marumaro shouted as Saber-Tiger, merged with Hippo and Bouquet, slashed through the Balaur. Yuri, Karol, Raven, and Repede used their Burst Artes while Phoenix used Eternal Breath. Sodia's brigade used magic artes to keep their distance in case the Balaur still had some fight left in it.

"Is it over?" Karol asked. Just then, they were all blasted back by Kronos. The Balaur got up, clearly weakened, and slowly moved toward the Ultimate Blastia. Everyone was too injured to move.

"Oh no..." Mist murmured.

"This is bad..." Rita agreed.

"Dammit...!" Yuri spat.

"We have to do something!" Shu exclaimed.

Just as the Balaur was about to come in contact with the Ultimate Blastia, a white light appeared between it and the blastia. When it vanished, an Entelexeia appeared.

"Altima!" Judith exclaimed. Altima had a black furred rabbit-like body. Her fluffy white ears were long and hanging down. Long clumps of black fur hung down from the back of her head. Her slender black arms and legs were hairless. Two long plumey tails swished behind her. Her belly fur and snout were white.

"You will not have this blastia!" Altima growled at the Balaur. When the Balaur lunged at Altima, the white light engulfed her and the blastia and both vanished, leaving the Balaur to attack thin air. He roared in frustration and dissipated, the particles flowing out of Aspio.

By then, everyone recovered enough to get up, Estelle casting Nightengale again to heal their wounds.

"What the hell just happened?!" Mist asked Judith.

"One of Altima's powers is to teleport," Judith replied. "More than likely, she teleported the Ultimate Blastia to a safer location for now."

"So we just need to find her?" Yuri asked.

"She will more than likely need help," Judith replied. "The Balaur was able to withstand the strongest attacks we could throw at it. She may end up an apatheia if she fights him alone. I can contact her to find out where she went."

"Good," Mist said. "We need to find her before the Balaur does."

"What I'm wondering is how the Balaur found where the Ultimate Blastia was so quickly," Rita said.

"Maybe a lucky guess?" Bouquet said.

"It could have detected a large amount of energy flowing from the blastia and followed it here," Judith replied.

"I'd think Zaude's core would be a larger beacon," Raven said.

"No. Zaude is different somehow," Rita said. "Even though it's much larger, it's producing a much different energy. Kind of like a...a...like a barrier!"

"A barrier?" Yuri asked. "I though Zaude was a weapon."

"I know, but the energy radiating from it doesn't feel similar to a bohdi or even a hoplon blastia," Rita replied. "It's like it's holding something powerful back."

"If that's the case, I wonder what," Mist said.


	8. Battle for Hypionia

The next day, after something was interferring with Judith's ability to communicate with Altima, they decided to go back to the hot springs to pass the time, Flynn and Mist joining them this time.

"Hello, fine visitors, and welcome to the Yumanju Hot Spring Spa!" the receptionist said when the group entered the lobby. "Ah, so you're back! I'm glad you enjoyed our hot springs so much the last time."

"We didn't enjoy them at all!" Rita exclaimed. "What the hell was with that partition? You could see right through it!"

"No, no, we simply folded up the partitions to open up the space as much as possible," the receptionist replied. "Besides, it's a question of morals. I doubt any visitor to our springs would be of such despicable moral fiber as to spy on members of the opposite gender!"

Everyone turned and stared at Raven and Marumaro. "Hey, hey, I didn't get ta see anythin'!" Raven exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's right, maro!" Marumaro agreed.

"You certainly would've, given half the chance," Judith said, cracking her knuckles.

"If it's that much of a concern for you, perhaps you'd like to rent out a spring for personal use?" the receptionist suggested. "You would be the only ones using your particular spring, so you could all go into the same bath with no problems, males and females together."

"T-t-t-together?!" Raven exclaimed. "This is an excellent idea! Let's do this! We should do this!"

"I can't see him as Captain Schwann anymore," Mist muttered.

"Hey old man," Yuri said. "If you want us to all go in together, it's just going to be you and Karol in there."

"Whaaat?" Karol said. "Alone in there with Raven? No, I think even I'll pass on that one."

"Well, what if we rented out a spring and went in one gender at a time?" Estelle suggested.

"One gender at a time, eh..." Yuri said. "If that works for you girls, it sounds good to me."

"All right then!" the receptionist said. "Now then, exclusive hot spring rental will be 100,000 Gald per person!"

"O-one hundred thousand Gald per person?!" Rita stammered.

"That's twice as much as it was last time..." Karol added.

"That's 1,300,000 Gald for all of us!" Mist exclaimed.

"Since you're reserving the bath for just yourselves, the price is a bit higher..." the receptionist explained. "But it's really quite a bargain!"

"The girls deserve to have a good time, too..." Yuri admitted.

"But we can't afford that!" Karol said.

"Actually, we can..." Mist said. "You remember how I won the drinking contest? Well, the wager was that the winner could demand something of the loser. However, I couldn't come up with something worthwhile on the spot, so it was decided I could fire that demand at any time..."

"You're saying that..." Flynn said.

"Yeah, that loser's gonna find the fee on his next bill," Mist replied. "I've got his name and everything." She walked over to the receptionist and the two talked a bit before Mist walked back over. "We can go in."

"Enjoy your visit!" the receptionist chimed in.

"Okay, we'll go in first!" Estelle proclaimed. Raven walked over to a mat and laid down on it.

"Sure, sure," he replied. "I'll jus' have a little nap while I'm waitin'. Wake me up when the bath's free, wouldja?"

"With him asleep, we can relax," Rita said. "All right, let's go."

A while later, all the boys except for Karol had fallen asleep. Karol was sitting next to Raven.

"Man, I hope they hurry up..." Karol said. "Yuri's asleep, too... Geez, this is really boring..." He turned around and started staring at Raven's face. Raven woke up and punched the twelve-year-old in the stomach, causing him to double over and stood up.

A few moments later, Raven was staring over the partition, Karol near him, though he wasn't tall enough to peek over the wall.

"...T-this...This place is..." Karol whispered nervously.

"Shh! Quiet boy!" Raven hushed. "The ladies have already gone in." Mist, Estelle, Kluke, and Bouquet were in the bath, completely unaware of the two peeping toms. "This'll be good fer ya, boy. Ya might learn a little bit 'bout the world. Though I guess if we're caught, that makes ya my accomplice, don't it? Heh heh!"

Rita came out of the building, a towel around her waist. "Ahh... This feels so nice..." she said.

"You can say that again..." Mist agreed.

"I bet you wish Flynn were in here, too," Bouquet said mischeiviously. Mist blushed and turned to her.

"The last thing I want is the Commandant turning out like the old man!" she exclaimed.

"Rita! Come on, hurry!" Estelle said.

"Come on, who cares about Rita?" Raven whispered. "Judith! I wanna see Judith!" His eyes widened when a very naked Judith stepped outside.

"Ahh, the open-air spring feels so amazing. I feel so liberated!" Judith exclaimed.

"You're certainly taking that to heart," Rita commented. "Lose your towel?"

"Oh, it's just us girls here, Rita," Judith replied. "Why would I need a towel?"

"I guess you're right, but... with you just letting it all hang out like that, I don't feel comfortable looking at you," Rita said. "And look at the others! They've been struck speechless by your bold display!" The other four girls were staring jaw-dropped at Judith.

"I-I'm speechless too..." Raven murmured before passing out. Karol sweatdropped.

"R-Raven! Are you okay?" Karol whispered.

Some time later, the girls came out. The boys were awake by then. "Yuri! We're out!" Estelle said. Yuri stood up.

"Where's the old pervert and the little twerp?" Rita asked. Karol and Raven came through the entrance to the lobby.

"Oh, sorry," Karol said. "Raven wasn't feeling very well..."

"Oh, are you all right?" Judith asked, walking over to Raven. Raven just stared at her a couple of seconds and passed out again. The girls just stared in confusion.

"Well, this isn't going to work," Yuri said. "I guess we'll leave the hot springs for another time."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Four days later in the castle, Flynn and Mist were preparing to leave. Hundreds of monsters were attacking people visiting the continent of Hypionia. Brave Vesperia and the Shadow Wielders were over in Dahngrest doing guild work, so the two were forced to go without them. Once preparations were made the Knights in the several brigades selected headed out on ship for Hypionia.

"We could get there so much faster if we had the Fiertia with us," Mist said.

"We just have to use what we can and pray we're not too late," Flynn replied.

"Yeah, but from the report it sounds like pretty much every monster on Terca Lumires gathered in Hypionia," Mist pointed out.

"Well, at least we have mercenaries from Fortune's Market helping us," Flynn said.

"Lucky to have their help," Mist muttered. "Relations between the Empire and the Union hasn't exactly been all rainbows and sunshine."

"I guess we should be thankful Kaufman is willing to put aside the dispute," Flynn replied.

"Only because she'd get a fortune selling weapons and supplies to aid us," Mist said.

Upon reaching the northeastern tip of Hypionia, a giant cloud of dust could be seen in front of a mountain. The Knights rushed over to the area, finding that the civilians were trapped between the monsters and the mountain. Following the mountain, the Knights were able to reach the people. The amount of monsters seemed to stretch far beyond the horizon.

"This is suicide!" a Knight exclaimed.

"We don't get paid enough to deal with this!" another added.

"Sir, I'm starting to feel this is a bad idea," Mist said.

"Don't worry," Flynn replied. "We can do this."

"Easy for you to say!" Mist countered. Her knees started shaking as the hordes of monsters were advancing, snarls drowning out the screams of the civilians. She took a deep breath and a fire magic circle appeared under her. "Oh countless particles that wander the heavens, rain down and glorify the land...Meteor Storm!"

Gigantic fireballs rained down on the monsters, leaving craters but more monsters filled in the spaces. The spell only seemed to piss them off even more as they charged, several wolves leaping on Knights. Flynn drove his sword into the chest of a Wraith Nail and ripped it out, making the oversized bear fall back onto a wolf, cutting off its yelp.

Mist protected herself with Force Field when the lions surrounding her attacked and counterattacked with Bloody Howling. She spun around as a Floral Mantis came up behind her, striking with it's forelimbs. She deflected it with her sword and used Tiger Blade, killing it instantly.

No matter how many monsters were killed, more seemed to pour in. The Knights were being overwhelmed, many having to be pulled out for medical attention and even more were killed. One Knight cut the head off a wolf only to be ripped apart by several lions. A Wraith Nail speared another with its oversized claws. EX Rhinos broke the necks of a group of Knights by trampling them.

It wasn't long until Flynn and Mist were overwhelmed as well. Flynn performed Sword Rain: Alpha on a Floral Mantis and was instantly taken down when a Wraith Nail raked its claws along his back. Flynn felt the dampness of blood spreading on his back and spun around, using Demon Fang to make the monster stagger back.

The Wraith Nail used its claws to defend itself when Flynn brought his sword down. He struggled to push the giant bear back but it swiped with its free paw, Flynn leaping back. A magic circle appeared under him and cast Holy Lance, killing the monster as it tried attacking him again. He was about to cast First Aid on himself when a wolf came out of nowhere and went for his throat. Flynn instinctively held up his arm, canceling the spell.

The wolf's fangs sank through the gauntlet and pricked his arm. He stabbed it and it let go, but a lion tackled him, pinning him on his back. It raised a paw and ripped at his chest, making him scream in pain. The lion suddenly roared in pain and collapsed on top of him. Its body was shoved away by Leblanc.

"Sir, you need to see a healer," Leblanc said.

"I'm fine," Flynn replied, casting First Aid to stop the bleeding. His eyes widened and he tackled Leblanc. A wolf soared over them and landed, snarling in frustration.

"This is endless!" Leblanc exclaimed.

Mist meanwhile was having serious difficulty holding back the monsters. She cast Demon Lance, the spear of dark energy impaling an EX Rhino. A lion leaped over the corpse, bringing its claws down on her. She leaped back, but the claws caught on the cape, dragging her down.

'This is why I hate wearing the imperial uniform!' she thought bitterly. The lion reared up and Mist saw her opening. "Hornet Sting!" She quickly stabbed the lion three times, kiling it. But as she got up, a Wraith Nail swiped at her, easily knocking her away. She landed with a startled gasp and felt wetness spreading over her stomach. She glanced down, seeing that the claws left three gashes on it. The Wraith Nail was upon her again before she could react and swiped at her, but Sodia got in the way, blocking the strike and pushing it back.

"Sonic Thrust!" she shouted, dashing forward quickly and ramming the blade through the bear. It swiped at the captain vainly before falling back.

"Thanks," Mist managed to gasp out, clutching the wound. Sodia turned. to her.

"You should get that seen to," she suggested. "You don't know any healing artes, right?" Mist shook her head and made her way to the healers.

The number of monsters noticably declined, but the Knights and the mercenaries were still greatly outnumbered. Mist was healed and went back to fight only to need to go back after her arm was torn at. One of the Wraith Nail's claws stabbed Flynn in the shoulder and he ripped himself away and rammed his other shoulder into its belly, performing Beast and knocking it back before Leblanc stabbed its chest.

"At this rate..." Flynn murmured.

"...We'll lose," Mist finished from the medical area, thinking the same thing as Flynn. Knights were all around her, moaning in pain and bleeding everywhere. Her eyes widened when Estelle rushed over, using Healing Circle to heal the injured within a one meter radius around her.

"Lady Estellise!" she exclaimed. "Why are you here?!"

"You can thank Tweedle A and Tweedle B for coming to get us," Yuri replied, stopping next to Estelle.

"Adecor and Boccos?" Mist asked. Yuri smirked in amusement that she knew the nicknames he gave to Leblanc's lackeys.

"Yeah. Where's Flynn?" Yuri asked.

"He's still fighting," Mist replied.

"That bastard ought to know this is suicidal," Yuri sighed. Mist shot up, despite her wounds protesting, and slugged Yuri in the face, making him stagger back.

"Yuri!" Estelle exclaimed.

"What the hell was that for?!" Yuri demanded.

"Don't you realize the Commandant's trying to protect the people here?!" Mist spat. "He's willing to die for them!"

"I know that!" Yuri retorted. "I know he's not afraid to get hurt if it means protecting others! But if it's against a horde of monsters this large, everyone is likely to be killed!"

"If you're thinking like that, why'd you bother coming?!"

"Do you think I'd really stand by and let my best friend get ripped apart by a bunch of monsters?!" Yuri snapped back. Rita came running over.

"The monsters must be attracted by a large amount of aer!" she exclaimed. "I've measure the density. It must be produced by a blastia!"

"There's no blastia on Hypionia cause there's no towns!" Mist replied. Then it hit her. "Wait... Altima must've teleported the Ultimate Blastia around here!"

"That's right," Rita replied. She turned to Estelle. "Have the spirits convert the aer into mana. That should make the monsters retreat."

"Okay!" Estelle replied. She folded her hands together and closed her eyes. The five elemental spirits appeared around her. A blue energy field surrounded them and expanded, covering the area. The monsters turned tail and ran as it approached. When the energy faded, the area was clear except for the multiple bodies of monsters lying around. Knights began picking themselves up and returning to where the civilians where sheltered.

Mist ran over when she saw Leblanc helping Flynn over to the medical area. He was unconscious and bleeding severely.

"Flynn!" she screamed. Estelle ran over and grabbed Mist.

"Hold in!" she said. "You need to lay down. You're only making your wounds worse by running. We'll take care of Flynn." She led a crying Mist back to the medical tents, Leblanc following them. Yuri watched them disappear in the tent and turned when he heard Judith approach him.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine. What about you?" Judith was covered in blood.

"It's not mine. It's the monsters'" Judith replied.

"No surprise there," Yuri admitted. He saw the Shadow Wielders staring wide-eyed at the carnage around them. Raven was walking over to them.

"You kids okay?" he asked.

"Y-yeah..." Kluke replied shakily.

"If yer hurt, go over ta the tents over there," Raven said, pointing to where the injured were gathered in front.

"No we're fine," Shu said. "It's just... I've never seen this much bloodshed."

"Yeah, well it was worse in the Great War," Raven said. "There were very few survivors of it."

"Is...is this what you guys deal with all the time?" Bouquet asked.

"Nah, this is pretty rare. Every now an' then we get some power-hungry lunatic, but usually nothin' this bad," Raven replied. "'Course, now we may be seein' more of this." He stopped, his eyes widening. The Shadow Wielders followed his gaze to a silver-haired man with red eyes and a red sword with red energy surrounding it.

"Who's that?" Marumaro asked.

"Duke..." Raven murmured. "What the hell's he doin' here?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The battle in Hypionia was a rewrite of the Hypionia battle in the game. And you may recognize the second hot spring scene in the game. I laughed my head of when I saw it. Too bad Judith figured out what Raven saw.


	9. Duke's Goal

Aurnion. That was to be the name of the new town built in Hypionia. Kaufman had suggested to Flynn to make the area a fort to defend the people there. Estelle was the one who came up with the name.

Duke's appearance was brief, but it made Brave Vesperia uneasy. Just why had he appeared in the first place? His motives were always a mystery, but thay felt it might have something to do with the Ultimate Blastia.

It seemed that the dense aer in the area was the thing interferring with Judith's ability to communicate with Altima. The Entelexeia had moved the Ultimate Blastia to Astal's old domain, the Shrine of Baction.

"Bation, huh," Yuri said. He glanced over at Raven. "The place where you double-crossed us."

"Wouldja let that go already?" Raven moaned.

"You joining us?" Yuri asked Flynn. The Commandant opened his mouth to reply, but Mist spoke up.

"No we aren't." Flynn was about to protest and Mist snapped her head over to him. "With all due respect sir, there's no way in hell you're going there. You've only just recovered from the battle."

"Heh, looks like you've been overruled," Yuri smirked. "Makes me wonder who's really the Commandant here."

"Makes me wonder if Mist is only holding him back to get some alone time with him, if you know what I mean," Judith said with a wink. Mist glared at the Krityan.

"Oh give me a break," she growled, her eyes darkening.

"Yeah, yeah," Yuri said, waving his hand dismissively. "Just don't rough him up too badly on the bed." Judith broke out laughing. Raven gave Mist a sly smile. Mist gritted her teth, lowering her head and her hands going into fists. A fire magic circle and three fireballs appeared. Her head shot up.

"DIE!" The fireballs were launched at the three. Yuri ducked, Judith blocked it with her spear, but Raven was hit dead-on, sending him into a half-finished house. Mist dashed at Yuri, her sword drawn, blind with rage and embarrassment. No way in hell this crimminal was going to make a fool out of her!

Yuri sidestepped, Mist going right past him. She quickly spun around and went for him again. Yuri took a step back and held out his foot. Mist wasn't able to stop in time and she tripped...

...And barreled right into Flynn, both going down.

"Didn't know you were that clumsy," Yuri commented.

"Shut the hell up, you jackass!" Mist retorted.

"Umm... Mist could you please get off me. It's kinda hard to breathe."

Mist's face flushed as she realized the Commandant was directly under her. Flynn's face was bright red as he tried averting his gaze from the breasts directly in front of his face.

"Oh my god! I am so, so, so sorry sir!" Mist exclaimed, quickly getting up. Flynn got to his feet and Mist averted her gaze, embarrassed.

"I-it's alright!" Flynn replied quickly. He turned his blue gaze to Yuri. "What was that for?"

"What was what for?" Yuri asked innocently.

"You know what I'm talking about, you asshole!" Flynn retorted. Mist and Yuri's eyes widened. Flynn rarely swore, an occasional "damn" or "hell" slipping out, usually when he's under some serious stress, like when Don Whitehorse arrested him.

"Woah! Calm down, buddy!" Yuri said, taking a step back and putting his hands up in front of his chest. "No need to get angry with me."

"You provoked Mist just so you could have her stumble into me!" Flynn replied.

"I'm amazed you figured that out," Yuri said sarcastically. This just made Flynn angrier. He threw a punch, nailing Yuri in the side of the head and sending him to the ground.

"Sir!" Mist exclaimed.

"Oh, that is it!" Yuri yelled, shooting up and tackling the blonde. He punched the Commandant twice in the face before Flynn kneed Yuri in the gut, allowing him to throw the man off him. Yuri landed on his hands and knees and Flynn grabbed him, holding him in a headlock.

"You know, you've never been able to beat me at anything," Flynn reminded Yuri.

"That was back when we were kids!" Yuri hissed back. "Besides, there's a first time for everything!" He threw himself back, crashing atop Flynn on the ground. Yuri elbowed the blonde in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and letting go of Yuri.

"Shouldn't we do something?!" Estelle exclaimed. Raven rested his hand on her shoulder.

"Sometimes it's best ta let them sort it out," he replied.

"It almost looks like they're bent on killing each other!" Kluke gasped, covering her mouth when a trickle of blood appeared from the corner of Yuri's mouth.

"I thought they were supposed to be friends!" Shu said.

"Well, friends can also get violent," Raven replied.

"Then that would make you and Jiro best friends, maro!" Marumaro exclaimed to Shu.

"Like hell!" Shu and Jiro shouted back.

"Yeesh, don't need to get mean, maro," Marumaro muttered.

"Ouch! That has to hurt!" Bouquet winced when Yuri punched Flynn's head into the blastia body that had been excavated. Blood ran down the Commandant's face and he kicked Yuri in the chest, sending the dark-haired man stumbling back. Estelle was reaching her breaking point.

"Someone has to stop them before they really do end up killing each other!" she exclaimed, tears starting to run down her face. People had stopped working and were gathering around, wondering what was going on.

Yuri and Flynn grabbed each others throats, trying to overpower the other. Even Raven was starting to look uneasy. Rita was preparing a fireball to blast the men apart, but Mist reacted faster.

"ENOUGH!" Mist ran up to them, shoving the two apart. Both men started coughing, staring up at Mist who looked absolutely horrified. "What the hell are you trying to do, kill each other?! We've still got the Balaur to take down and we can't accomplish this if we end up fighting amongst ourselves! For God's sake, you're both 21 and yet you act like you're still kids!"

"Hey, your boyfriend here started it," Yuri said, pointing to Flynn. Mist smacked him hard.

"I don't give a shit!" she snarled. "You're both too old to be fighting with each other!" She closed her eyes. "This is just too much stress for me to handle..." She turned and pushed through the crowd that had formed, making her way into her and Flynn's cabin.

"She's right!" Estelle said. "We won't accomplish anything by fighting!"

Raven sighed loudly. "We'd better set off. If Duke's headed for the Ultimate Blastia, we might wanna beat him to it."

"I'll call Ba'ul," Judith said, putting her hand to her head. A howl sounded in the distance and Ba'ul appeared, landing the Fiertia and awaiting Brave Vesperia to board it.

"Flynn..." Yuri murmured, wiping the blood from his mouth. Flynn got up and turned, not bothering to clean his face.

"I'm going to see Mist..." he replied dully. "She's right. We acted like total jackasses. I'm going to appologize."

"Good luck with that," Yuri said, turning toward Aurnion's entrance. "She seemed pretty pissed."

"I know," Flynn replied, heading over to the cabin while Yuri boarded the Fiertia. Flynn heard Ba'ul's take-off as he went through the door, not even bothering to look back.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Wow, I can't believe those two idiots really went at it," Rita commented. "Almost makes me doubt they were childhood friends in the first place."

"Yeah, I thought they really were going to kill each other," Karol agreed.

"But right now we need ta hurry ta Baction. We need ta beat Duke to it," Raven said.

"It should take about two to three days by foot to reach the shrine," Rita pointed out.

"So just who is Duke anyway?" Kluke asked.

"He's know as the hero of the Great War," Raven replied. "He's allied himself with the Entelexeia an' weilds the key ta becoming emperor, Dein Nomos. The sword has the ability to cut through aer."

"What do you mean 'cut through aer'?" Kluke asked.

"The sword possesses the Rizomata Formula," Rita replied. "The Rizomata Formula allows you to restablize aer and control it freely. The mages in Aspio have gone absolutely nuts trying to discover the formula."

"Includin' you," Raven added. Rita glared at him.

"Shut up, old man!" Rita shouted.

"Enough you two," Yuri called out from across the ship. "Last thing we need is the ship to be on fire."

"Says the guy who just tried murdering his best friend, like he murdered Ragou and Cumore," Rita muttered angrily.

"Nah, those two had it comin', Ragou feedin' people ta monsters an' Cumore sendin' the people of Mantaic to their deaths tryin' ta hunt down Phaeroh," Raven said.

Across the ship, Estelle was talking to Yuri.

"Yuri, will you and Flynn still be friends?" she asked.

"Heh, we fought plenty of times while I was in the Knights," Yuri replied. "We always ended up making up somehow."

"Well, I hope you two will still be friends even after this incident," Estelle said with a small smile.

"Thanks, Estelle," Yuri replied.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Mist?" Flynn said as he shut the cabin door behind him. Mist was sitting on her bed, her face in her hands. Her armor was laying on the dresser. She lifted her head and turned to Flynn when he said her name. Her eyes were red, like she'd just got done crying.

"Oh, hello sir," she murmured. Even her voice sounded hollow. Flynn walked over and sat down next to her.

"Sorry... about earlier," he said, looking down. A drop of blood fell from his chin and he wiped his face off with his arm. Mist turned her head away, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth. "I know that was completely unprofessional of me to get upset like that and I'm really sorry."

Mist suddenly hugged Flynn tightly, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I...I just hate...seeing two friends fighting like that..."

Flynn gazed down at her before wrapping his arms around her. "I'm sorry..."

Their moment together was rudely interrupted when Witcher came barging in through the door. "Commandant Flynn! We got new information about- -Oh!"

The two started blushing and pulled apart. Flynn turned to the mage. "What is it, Witcher?"

The green-haired boy adjusted his glasses in embarrassment before continuing. "Well, sir, we've got new information about Zaude. It seems that the shrine is in fact holding back a large amount of aer. From a mural in the Krityan city of Myorzo, this mass of aer is known as the Adephagos. It almost destroyed the world once. Now, we believe the Ultimate Blastia is linked to the Adephagos."

"What do you mean by that?" Flynn asked.

"The elder wasn't able to give us very much information regarding the Adephagos, but it had been produced by aer going out of control. This led to the end of the Gerios Civilization," Witcher explained. "The Ultimate Blastia dates back to the end of that same civilization. The blastia itself produced enough aer to attract just about every monster living in Hypionia to this area. This led us to the conclusion that the Ultimate Blastia caused the catastrophe."

"So if it were to be used, it would spell disaster for Terca Lumires?" Flynn asked.

"If that's the case, we can't afford to allow the Balaur to take hold of it!" Mist exclaimed.

"Plus, we can only assume Duke is headed for the Ultimate Blastia as well," Flynn added. "That means for right now, it's all up to Brave Vesperia."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are we there yet?" Shu whined.

"For the millionth time, NO!" Rita shouted, quickly losing her patience.

"What about now?"

"For the love of all things, SHUT THE HELL UP!"

"Geez, you don't need to be such a grouch all the time," Shu muttered.

"Wanna try saying that again, you little punk?!" Rita growled.

"Hey, kid, ya might wanna back off," Raven said. "Otherwise, the next thing ya know, yer ass is on fire."

"Yeah, Rita's set me and Raven on fire plenty of times," Karol added.

"You want me to do it again?" Rita asked dangerously.

"Uh, no ma'am!" Karol replied, covering his face in fear.

"Hey, calm down," Yuri called over to them. "We're here."

"Finally!" Shu exclaimed.

"Grow up..." Jiro muttered.

Ba'ul landed and the group entered the Shrine of Baction. Despite Alexei collapsing the inner sanctum, the ruins were largely intact.

"We may find Altima at the point of the cave-in," Judith said.

"All right," Yuri replied. "Let's go on in."

Going through Baction wasn't as much hell as the first time, thanks to the map of the shrine Karol made. Soon they were heading down some stairs and heading up another flight of stairs and then heading back down using another. Sure enough, Altima was on the bridge with the Ultimate Blastia. But she wasn't alone.

"Looks like Duke got here before us," Raven said. Duke turned when he heard Raven's voice.

"So you're here now," he replied. Shu shivered at how deep and arcane Duke's voice sounded.

"So tell me, Duke," Yuri said, stepping forward. "Why are you here as well?"

"To destroy this blastia," he replied.

"Duke, I keep telling you that not even we Entelexeia have the power to destroy this accursed blastia," Altima said. "If we did, we would have destroyed it long ago."

"I have a solution for that," Duke replied. "All I need is for you to teleport the blastia back to Aspio."

"You don't mean you plan to..." Altima growled, her fur bristling. "There is not way I will allow that!"

"What does she mean?" Karol asked. Undine, Efreet, Sylph, Gnome, and Volt appeared.

"Duke, you will not raise Tarquaron," Undine said.

"Who are you?" Duke asked.

"We were once Entelexeia, but we have been converted into spirits," Undine replied. "I was Belius."

"I was Phaeroh," Efreet said.

"I used to be Krysis," Volt said.

"Gnome here used to be Gusios. And I used to be Khroma," Sylph said.

"Khroma..." Duke murmured.

"We possess far more power than when we were Entelexeia," Efreet said. "We plan on destroying the blastia ourselves."

"Then why have you not done so already?" Duke asked.

"It is true we have more power, but we need more to destroy it," Sylph admitted.

"You mean, you need more spirits," Estelle murmured. Undine turned to the princess.

"That is correct. So we have tried coming up with a better solution."

"The only solution is to exclange the lives of humans to destroy it," Duke said. "That way, the Adephagos will not be reawakened from this blastia or from Zaude."

"From Zaude?" Rita asked.

"The Adephagos was sealed away in Zaude using the power of the Entelexeia and the Children of the Full Moon," Undine replied. Estelle gasped, as she was a Child of the Full Moon. "Dein Nomos is the key to Zaude. That is why it determines who the next emperor will be."

"So the Children of the Full Moon started the Empire," Yuri said.

"Correct," Efreet replied. "Zaude runs off the power of the Child of the Full Moon."

"But, Duke," Sylph said. "This isn't only about protecting the world, right? It's about your grudge against humanity for Elucifer's death, isn't it?"

Duke was silent for a moment before nodding. "Correct. My friend turned against his own brethren to fight for the humans, and in exchange they murder him because they fear him. Humans are nothing more than savages that will lead to the end of this world."

"That's what you view humans as?!" Yuri exclaimed.

"Hey, who's Elucifer?" Karol asked the spirits. Sylph turned to the boy.

"Elucifer is an Entelexeia who became our leader after Alrodoh's death. He sided with the humans during the Great War. However, the Empire hunted him down shortly after their victory because they feared he would turn on them. Elucifer also happened to be Duke's best friend."

"Ah, so that youngster had become leader, eh?" Volt asked.

"Oh yes, you wouldn't know," Undine said. "I had forgotten you and several Entelexeia went into hibernation shortly after Alrodoh's death."

"Duke..." Yuri stepped forward. "Do you think Elucifer would really want you to destroy humanity?"

Duke narrowed his crimson eyes. "Do not speak as if you knew him. His death was unjust. Now humanity will pay the price."

"But we understand the Entelexeia better than before now!" Estelle protested.

"But not enough," Duke countered. He turned to Altima. "Please teleport the blastia to Aspio."

"Duke, I understand your anger towards humanity, but this is just wrong," Altima replied. Her blue eyes darkened. "I hate to see you resorting to this."

"Duke, you need to stop th- -," Efreet growled before being cut off.

"Aha! We found you at last, Entelexeia!"

Everyone turned to see Clint, Tison, and Nan of the Hunting Blades standing at the entrance to the bridge.

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me..." Yuri grumbled.

"Nan..." Karol murmured. Nan shot a glare at him.

"You die now, monster!" Clint shouted, pulling out his large sword and running at Altima. Altima whipped one of her tails out, smacking the Hunting Blades leader back. Nan took the large crescent-moon shaped boomerang off her back and launched it at the Entelexeia. She ducked, but the blade spun around and came right back. Duke leaped up, bringing his sword down on the boomerang. Tison started running along the walls and leaped out, lashing out with his claw-like nails.

"Moonbeam!" Judith shouted, leaping up above the hooded silver-haired man and swinging her spear down, releasing blue energy that took Tison down.

"Tidal Wave!" Rita said, completing the water element spell. Nan, who had just picked up her weapon, was engulfed by a twister of water.

"I've had enough of you!" Nan shouted. She started spinning with her boomerang, purple energy being expelled. "Soaring Raptor Blast!" The water was blasted away by her Mystic Arte, leaving Nan drenched. She glanced over at Karol, who was staring desparingly at her.

"N-Nan..." Karol pleaded. "Please don't do this..."

"I'm surprised you haven't ran away, like you always do," Nan replied coldly.

"I have no idea what that kid sees in her," Raven commented at he performed Rain Down on Clint. The man, sidestepped when the arrow came shooting down.

"Stay away, human!" Altima growled as Tison lunged at her. Judith got in between them, throwing a roundhouse to the side of his head. Just then a roar echoed throughout the shrine, making it feel like an earthquake was occuring.

"That roar..." Blue Dragon murmured after dodging Nan's boomerang.

"It's the Balaur!" Phoenix exclaimed.

"Why do things always have to go to hell..." Yuri grumbled.

"Because you're totally cursed!" Rita exclaimed, glaring accusingly at the man. "Something bad happens every time you're around!"

"Well, not every time," Yuri replied.

Dust started coming down from the ceiling as the roar sounded again, closer this time. Then the three-headed dragon Shadow shouldered its way through the archway, its red eyes glued on the Ultimate Blastia.

"Wh-what the hell is that thing?!" Tison exclaimed, his eyes widening.

"Doesn't matter," Clint replied, readying his sword. "It's a monster. So let's kill it!" He, Tison, and Nan dashed at the Balaur.

"You damned idiots!" Raven shouted. The Balaur used Kronos, sending the Hunting Blades flying back. The head in the middle opened its mouth, a red energy beam charging. It released it at a surprised Altima. She roared in pain as the blast engulfed her.

"Altima!" Duke exclaimed, shielding his eyes from the blinding light. When it vanished, Altima collapsed, breathing heavily. Wounds covered her entire body. Estelle rushed forward to heal her, but Judith grabbed her arm.

"Don't!" the Krityan whispered. "Remember? The power of the Child of the Full Moon is a poison to the Entelexeia."

"B-but what should we do?!" Estelle replied, frantic. Altima slowly got on all fours.

"I...I'll use...the last of...of my strength...to teleport the blastia..." she gasped out. "After that...I will be able to do nothing more...It, it is up to you to...to defend it..." The Entelexeia was engulfed in a white light, enveloping the Ultimate Blastia as well. Then they were gone.

"Dammit!" Clint growled as he slowly got to his feet. "Our mark got away!" Judith ran over and smacked him with her spear.

"These idiots've got rocks fer brains..." Raven muttered. Then the shrine began shaking violently.

"Oh no! Baction's gonna collapse!" Rita exclaimed. The Balaur had already made its escape. Karol turned to Nan.

"Nan! We've gotta get outta here!" he exclaimed. Clint stared at the former Hunting Blades member before turning to Tison and Nan.

"Hunting Blades! Pull out!" he shouted. He and the other two made a run for it. Brave Vesperia, the Shadow Wielders, and Duke followed. Behind them, the bridge collapsed.

"That explosion from the Balaur's attack must have taken out Baction's main supports," Rita gasped out as they ran up the final flight of stairs. Monsters residing in the shrine were running for their lives, not caring that humans were right beside them. Karol almost tripped over a Superstar G as it dashed past.

A Unicornos nearly trampled Estelle as they all tried squeezing through the entrance. Once everyone was outside, the ruins gave one final rumble before the roof collapsed. Dust thrown up covered the entire area, blinding everyone. A Rabbitgo knocked Shu over in its panic and a Bunwiggle took shelter in between Kluke's legs. When the dust cleared, the area was filled with the mournful cries of monsters.

"Aww! This thing is so cute!" Kluke exclaimed, picking the Bunwiggle up. "Hey, where's its legs?"

"Now's not the time to get all big-eyed over a monster, Kluke," Yuri said. He looked around. "Looks like Duke gave us the slip."

"But can I keep it? Please?" Kluke begged, trying to do her best puppy-eyes.

"Sorry, Kluke, but Yuri wouldn't fall fer that ol' trick in a million years," Raven told her. Kluke pouted.

"But it's so adorable!" she protested. Bouquet came over and started scratching the Bunwiggle behind the ears.

"Yeah, I can't believe a creature this cute could be called a monster," she agreed.

"That's what Estelle thought at first," Yuri said. "But we ended up regretting letting our guard down."

"Huh?" was all the two Shadow Wielders said. The Bunwiggle bounced up, headbutting Kluke. Kluke dropped the Bunwiggle, grasping her face as the monster bounced away.

"Get back here, you!" Kluke shouted, shaking one fist in the air.

"We might wanna get outta here 'fore the monsters regain their wits," Raven said, looking around nervously. "Otherwise, we'll end up dinner."

"The old man's right," Rita said. Judith telepathically called Ba'ul. As the whale-like dragon Entelexeia appeared, the monsters scattered.

"We need to tell Flynn about Duke," Yuri said. "So let's head back to Aurnion."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So Duke's planning on exchanging every human life to destroy the Ultimate Blastia," Flynn murmured when the group told him what happened at Baction.

"Did he say how he's gonna do that?" Mist asked.

"No, he didn't give us any details about it," Rita replied, crossing her arms.

"But it has something to do with Aspio, right?" Witcher asked.

"That's right, Apple-Head," Yuri replied.

"My name's not Apple-Head!" Witcher shouted.

"Sorry, Witcher, but with that lock of hair sticking up, your head actually does look like a green apple," Mist giggled.

"Anyway, Duke mentioned Tarquaron," Rita continued, ignoring the mage's indignant protests. "More that likely, this "Tarquaron" is located in Aspio."

"Is it a blastia?" Flynn asked.

"Dunno," Rita replied with an uncaring shrug.

"...It's a tower..." Estelle murmured.

"Huh?" Yuri said.

"The spirits are telling me... Tarquaron is a tower build during the Gerios Civilization."

"Maybe we should go to Myorzo for more information," Judith suggested.

"Good idea," Rita replied. "Since the Gerios Civilization is when blastia were first created and the Krityan are credited with inventing them, the answer might be in Myorzo."

"So we're off to Myorzo next?" Yuri asked.

"That's right," Judith replied. "I'll ask Kromes to let the elder know we're coming."

"I hope he doesn't waste our time trying to get us to try his cucumber sandwiches," Rita mumbled. "That took a full half-hour before we could even tell him what we needed."

"Oh?" Judith replied, putting a hand to her chest. "I though they were very delicious."

"I kinda like going to Myorzo," Karol said. "I like how laid-back the Krityans there are."

"I hate the fact you're inside a flying jellyfish," Mist said. "You look down from a platform and all you can think about is 'If I slip, will I pass right through Kromes?'"

"Don't tell me yer afraid of heights like Rita here," Raven chimed in.

"No!" Mist protested.

"I'm not afraid of heights!" Rita added.

"Oh really, genius mage?" Raven replied with a sly smile. "Then maybe ya wouldn't mind starin' over the side of the Fiertia with me an' Repede?"

Repede gave out a small snigger and Rita glared at him.

"Shut up, dog!" she shouted. The pipe in his mouth flipped up as he seemed to smile.

"But then again, yer fear of dogs might keep ya away from the side," Raven said with a shrug.

"I'm not scared of anything!" Rita shouted, her hands in fists.

"Raven stop antagonizing her..." Flynn warned, but Raven ignored him.

"Well, if yer not scared of anythin', then maybe ya wouldn't mind goin' on the Atherum."

"What's the Atherum?" Shu asked.

"It's the ghost ship," Raven replied. "Rita would jump every time the boat creaked."

"I did not!" Rita protested, blushing with embarrassment.

"The Fiertia's ceres blastia mysteriously stopped workin' an' so we were stuck next ta the ship," Raven explained to Shu. "At the end, when we got a red chest from the captain's skeleton, the ceres blastia started workin' again."

"Karol freaked out when the ghosts appeared," Judith added.

"N-no I didn't!" Karol retorted.

"Well, we should head for Myorzo now," Judith continued. "Kromes is headed for Hypionia now."

The group, including Mist and Flynn, boarded the Fiertia as Ba'ul took off. Approaching them a a gigantic flying blue jellyfish, Kromes. Ba'ul slipped through Kromes's membrane easily, the sky turning into a miasma of blue and green. Ba'ul landed near a platform to the city and everyone got out.

Judith turned to the Shadow Wielders. "Welcome to the Krityan city of Myorzo."


	10. Heracles Moves

"Welcome to Myorzo."

The five Shadow Wielders stared in awe at the Krityan city. Mist and Flynn had been to Myorzo a couple of times, but it was still breathtaking. Upon entering through Myorzo's main gates, they were greeted by the Krityan elder.

"Why, hello again," he said. "There's something I need to show you."

"What is it?" Judith asked.

"Just follow me to my place," the elder replied. He started walking toward the large red roofed building and entered through the door, followed by everyone else. On the end of the table near the wall with the hidden mural of the Adephogos was a red and black sword. On the hilt was a green gem.

"Look what I found while I was cleaning my dresser," the elder said.

"You had a sword in your dresser...?" Estelle murmured.

"Hey, but this is..." Yuri said, leaning closer to the sword.

"This isn't just any old sword..." Rita said. "It looks kinda like...you know..."

"You know what?" Karol asked.

"She means Dein Nomos, right?" Raven replied.

"Come to think of it, this sword does resemble Dein Nomos," Mist said, inspecting the sword.

"Just what kind of sword is this?" Estelle asked.

"I was hoping you would ask," the elder replied. "If memory serves, it is one of the seven fell arms of legend.

"Fell arms?" Mist asked.

"You mean the weapons spawned by the 14-headed monster from the fairy tales?" Estelle asked.

"Hmph, I don't know how the story is told below, but here the legend is as follows," the elder replied. "At the height of the ancient blastia civilization, an attempt was made to produce special weapons. Eventually, this led to the creation of armanents of untold power, seven in total."

"So these weapons're a legacy of the ancients... Well, Dein Nomos is real. Maybe this story is, too," Raven said.

"Is Dein Nomos one of these fell arms, then?" Yuri asked.

"I'd say it's possible if what the elder says is true," Rita replied.

"But if this is really one of the fell arms... why was it in your dreser, elder?" Judith asked.

"I can't remember for the life of me," the elder replied. "It's been decades since I've cleaned this out."

"You haven't cleaned out your dresser in... decades?" Estelle gasped. "I don't know what to say..."

"...If these weapons are really as powerful as they sound... it might be a good idea for us to get a hold of them before they fall into the wrong hands," Yuri said.

"Yeah... There've been quite a few sets of wrong hands out there lately," Raven agreed.

"Might we take this with us, elder?" Judith asked.

"Huh? Oh, fine by me," the elder replied.

"You're giving it to us just like that?" Karol asked.

"To tell the truth, I'm glad it turned up, but I'd been wondering what I'd do with it," the elder replied. "I've got no real use for it. Besides, it would be a shame to just leave something like this lying around. I figure you are just the ones to put it to proper use."

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten the Kritya didn't believe in violence," Mist said.

"With Judith as an exception," Flynn added.

"Do you know anything about the other fell arms?" Rita asked.

"Let me see here..." the elder said. "According to legend, the seven weapons share a common bond. If this is truly one of the fell arms, it should react if brought near the others."

"So as long as we have one, any of the others should react somehow?" Karol asked.

"If the legends speak true," the elder replied.

"Okay, I'll take it off your hands," Yuri said. "Thanks, elder."

"Don't mention it," the elder replied. "Now, the sword's name is Abyssion. Take good care of it."

"So, who gets the sword?" Yuri asked turning to the others. "Mist? Estelle? Flynn?"

"I like Last Fencer, thank you very much," Mist replied, patting her sword.

"I prefer sabers and smaller swords," Estelle said.

"You take it, Yuri," Flynn urged.

"Fine by me," Yuri replied with a shrug.

"I'm surprised you didn't offer to take it," Shu said, turning to Jiro.

"Why would I want that when I already have a perfectly good sword?" Jiro replied.

"Um, elder, there's something we wanted to ask you," Mist said.

"Hm? What is it." the elder asked.

"Do you know anything about Tarquaron?"

"Tarquaron? Why do you need to know about that?" the elder asked.

"There's this person, Duke, who's planning on using it to destroy the Ultimate Blastia," Mist replied.

"The Ultimate Blastia?"

Rita sighed loudly and stepped forward. "It's a large blastia uncovered in the Shaikos Ruins and was transported to Aspio. The blastia body is in the shape of a spade and is about nine to ten feet in height. The blastia core is about six feet in diameter."

"Ah, the Gerios Blastia!" the elder exclaimed. He went over to a chair and sat down on it, resting his staff against the table. Everyone else sat along the other side of the table. "The reason for its name being the Gerios Blastia is because it was the final blastia produced during the Gerios Civilization. It is also one of the greatest and most disasterous legacies of that ancient civilization."

"How was it the most disasterous legacy of the ancients?" Judith asked.

"First off, it was created by the humans of the lower world, not the Kritya. The humans united to slay the Entelexeia king of that time, a large black dragon known as Alrodoh," the elder replied. "They then used his entire apatheia for a blastia they believed would be the greatest one ever made. And they were right. Its power replaced every blastia needed for everyday lives. Barrier blastia, aque blastia, thermo blastia, aero blastia. You name it."

"So what went wrong?" Flynn asked.

"The blastia was using up far more aer than every Child of the Full Moon put together. The aer krenes went completely out of control trying to replenish the lost aer. Many Entelexeia tried restablizing the aer, but they instead turned into a mass of aer itself. That aer and the aer pouring out of the aer krene combined into a gigantic mass of aer that covered the sky, threatening to devour the world. This entity was known as the Adephagos."

"What happened then?" Kluke asked, leaning forward into her chair.

"The Children of the Full Moon and the Entelexeia sealed the Adephagos away in Zaude. The Gerios Blastia was pretty much thrown away," the elder replied.

"So what about Tarquaron?" Flynn asked.

"At the height of the Gerios Civilization, humans built a city floating in the air using the power of the Gerios Blastia. However, it was later turned into a weapon to destroy the Entelexeia."

"Destroy the Entelexeia?!" Karol exclaimed.

"Correct," the elder replied. "The Entelexeia warned the humans against the use of the Gerios Blastia. When they refused to listen, the Entelexeia made a move to destroy it."

"So in theory, does Tarquaron have the power to destroy the Gerios Blastia?" Rita asked.

"No, it doesn't," the elder replied. "It would require the power of Dein Nomos and much more to accomplish that."

"The power of Dein Nomos..." Mist murmured. "Do you mean converting aer into mana?"

"I'm not really sure," the elder admitted.

"Well, thank you for helping us, elder," Judith said, standing up. The elder looked out the window.

"Oh, is it getting dark already?" he said. "You can all stay at that abandoned house from before."

"Thank you," Yuri replied. "All right, guys. Let's get some rest."

"And something to eat too, maro!" Marumaro exclaimed.

The group left the elder's house and went to the house they rested in before. Flynn went over to the kitchen.

"I'll cook us something to eat," he said. Mist and Yuri's eyes widened and Estelle, Rita, Karol, Raven, and Judith broke out in a sweat.

"N-no no sir!" Mist exclaimed, running up and pulling Flynn back by the arm. "Why don't you let someone else do it."

"But why?" he asked.

"She means that the Commandant shouldn't bother himself with the cooking," Yuri replied. "I'll cook dinner.

"But, Yuri, you've always cooked for me back when we both lived in the lower quarter," Flynn replied. Yuri sighed and looked back at the others.

"I've failed."

"C'mon!" Raven exclaimed. "We need ta use the power of authority! Yer up, little miss!"

"I don't feel right doing this, but it's for everyone's sake!" Estelle replied. She went up to talk to Flynn, by he stopped her.

"I'll have dinner ready in a few minutes, Lady Estellise," Flynn said.

"O-okay..." Estelle replied. As Flynn went into the kitchen, Mist started grabbing at her hair.

"Oh man, we are SO dead!" she exclaimed.

"Why? What's wrong?" Bouquet asked.

"With Flynn's cooking, it's either good or horrifyingly awful," Yuri replied.

"Cooking really shouldn't be this exciting!" Mist moaned.

"He almost killed all of us judges during the cooking competition in Dahngrest!" Karol added. "I swear, he poisoned the food!"

"You're kidding..." Jiro said.

"Nope," Yuri replied. "If he follows the recipe, he can put a pro chef to shame. But if he follows his own recipe, well you'd better have your wills written out."

"Oh no..." Kluke murmured.

"All we can do is pray he succeeds," Rita said, not looking at all eager for the results.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After dinner, everyone except Flynn was rushing for a place to vomit.

"Son of a bitch..." Yuri growled.

"He followed his own recipe!" Mist exclaimed.

"Oh man, oh man! I'm gonna hurl!" Shu groaned.

"Ow! My stomach hurts, maro..." Marumaro added.

"You guys really weren't kidding," Jiro said to Rita.

"What? Did you think we were?!" Rita demanded, her face turning green.

"Aroooooooo...!" Repede howled painfully.

"Poor Repede... Oooohhh it hurts!" Estelle said, gripping her stomach.

"We need to try harder next time!" Bouquet moaned.

"You cook next time," Kluke replied.

"This is just like last time, only worse!" Karol exclaimed, doubling over and curling up in a ball on the ground.

"I'm gonna murder him...!" Judith growled.

"Make sure I can get in on that too," Raven said.

When everyone emptied the contents of their stomachs, the reentered the house, all of them totally pissed off and marching over to a confused Flynn. Judith cracked her knuckled and Rita yanked her scroll out.

"Is there something wrong?" Flynn asked. Judith stormed over, grabbing Flynn by the collar of his black undershirt and hoisted him up, slamming his back into the wall. For once, Mist didn't protest, although she winced slightly at Judith's roughness. For 19 years old, that woman was STRONG!

"Never. Cook. Ever. Again!" Judith hissed each word seperately. She let go of him, the Commandant sliding down into a sitting position.

"Wh-what did I do wrong?" Flynn stammered.

"Have you even tasted your cooking?!" Kluke exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Shu added. "Your cooking makes Kluke's almost tolerable!"

Kluke snapped her head over to her childhood friend. "What do you mean 'tolerable'? What are you implying? That my cooking's horrible?"

Shu realized he's just reached the danger zone and backed up a few steps. "No! I-I dodn't mean that!"

"Then tell me what you meant!" Kluke shouted, her hands tightening into fists.

"Will you two shut up?!" Jiro exclaimed.

"How about you?!" Shu and Kluke retorted in unison, making Jiro flinch. Marumaro started laughing and Jiro punched the Devee in the head.

"Am I really that bad?" Flynn asked, turning to Yuri.

"Geez, you're just now figuring that out? I've been dropping hints for years!"

"Sorry, sir, but I have to agree with Yuri on this one," Mist said, scratching the back of her head.

"You nearly killed me, Leblanc, Kaufman, Ioder, and the Wonder Chef in the cooking competition," Karol added.

"Yuri told us you've always been like that when it comes to cooking," Rita said, crossing her arms. "And I have to agree with him."

"Sorry, kiddo, but I'm 'fraid yer just not cut out fer cookin'," Raven said, cleaning his right ear out with his pinkie.

"It's just as the Wonder Chef said," Judith added. "Your a disgrace to chefs everywhere."

"I'm sorry everyone..." Flynn murmured.

"Well, you'd better be!" everyone except for Estelle and Mist shouted at the poor blonde.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Going on the Fiertia and exiting Kromes, the group headed for Zaphias. However, something caught Mist's eye. It only took her a moment to realize what it was.

"Heracles is moving!" she exclaimed. Everyone rushed to the side of the ship. Sure enough, the rhino-shaped fortress was walking through the ocean toward the capital.

"Ba'ul!" Judith shouted. Ba'ul howled and opened his mouth, red energy charging. He fired it as Heracles's main cannon began charging. The beam hit the cannon dead-on, smoke pouring out of it. However, despite the only weapon for taking down the barrier being gone, a hoplon blastia on the fortress fired, hitting Ba'ul on the side. The Entelexeia howled loudly, swerving to the left toward Halure.

As the ship was going down for a crash landing, the group saw a large white eastern dragon emerge from the water, attacking Heracles. It had six long whiskers, three on each side of its snout. A white beard tipped with blue hung down from its chin. Fins stuck out of its back.

"Omaro!" Judith exclaimed as the Fiertia and Ba'ul crash landed near Ehmead Hill.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mist struggled onto her knees, blood running down her face. She glanced around as the others bagan regaining consciousness. Ba'ul was on his side, blood flowing from the wound he recieved from the hoplon blastia.

"Ba'ul!" Judith cried out, wincing as she put weight on her bloody leg and ran over to her friend. Yuri, having already been in a crash landing on the Fiertia before, pulled himself out of the wreckage with ease. He turned and helped drag Flynn out of the rubble. Estelle and Rita worked together to unbury Kluke and Shu. Jiro and Marumaro were able to pull themselves out. Repede, Karol, and Raven had been thrown clear of the ship. Bouquet had several cuts on her, but was fine nonetheless. Tokunaga got out almost unscathed.

"Aw hell! Not again!" Tokunaga exclaimed, putting a hand to his forehead in disbelief. "It's even worse than the last time!"

"Stop worrying about the stupid ship!" Judith snapped at the sailor. "Ba'ul's been wounded!"

"Oh no!" Estelle exclaimed. "Ba'ul!"

She and the others ran over to the Entelexeia. Judith was trying her best to comfort him.

"It'll be all right, my friend," she soothed. "We'll get you fixed up in no time."

Ba'ul only let out a soft howl to signal he heard. The massive Entelexeia rolled himself upright and started panting.

"Doesn't he need to eat aer in order to heal himself?" Rita asked.

"Yes, but I'm afraid that Ba'ul's too wounded to fly," Judith replied worryingly.

"So what do we do?!" Karol exclaimed. With great effort, Ba'ul flapped his wings, lifting himself into the air.

"Ba'ul!" Judith called out after him. "Don't strain yourself!"

Ba'ul howled a response and flew off toward Tolbyccia.

"I'll need to get the ship repaired again," Tokunaga said. "So for now, you guys will have to travel on foot."

"Okay, thanks, Tokunaga," Yuri replied.

"I hope Omaro can hold off the Heracles long enough," Judith murmured.

"Is Omaro the dragon we saw?" Mist asked. "Is it an Entelexeia?"

"Yes," Judith replied. "However, we must help him. After all, Heracles was designed to kill the Entelexeia.

"But I thought Zagi totalled the controls. Plus, we destroyed the apatheia powering the fortress," Estelle said.

"It would be no problem to replace the controls," Rita replied. "And whoever is controlling Heracles must have installed a new apatheia."

"I'll bet all our Gald it's the Blood Alliance or Leviathan's Claw," Yuri said.

"Or some other guild," Mist added. "Or even an extremist group."

"Whatever the case," Judith said. "we must go and help Omaro!"


	11. Sky

Kluke used Phoenix's power to teleport the group back to Zaphias. By then, Heracles was looming over the city, just outside the barrier. Guildmen had swarmed the city, clashing with the Knights.

"The Blood Alliance!" Karol exclaimed.

"Whoever their new boss is, he must be one hell of an ass just like Barbos," Yuri sighed.

"We'll need to storm the Heracles and find him, then," Flynn said. "We'll go in as we are, since they may be expecting a larger force. There should be an air vent on the side that we can get into."

"So we'll leave removing the cover to Captain Karol here," Yuri said.

"Huh? Why me?" Karol asked.

"You're the best at lockpicking," Yuri replied. "Plus, you were able to remove the vent cover at Zaude, so this should be no different."

"But will we really be okay going in without a few more people?" Estelle asked.

"We were able ta stop the Heracles while tryin' ta rescue ya," Raven replied. "Though I guess that without the Knights, Zaphias would've been blown ta bits by the cannon."

"I guess what we really need to hope for is the new boss actually being in the Heracles," Rita pointed out. "What if he's actually out here fighting?"

"If he's anything like Barbos, he'll be sitting back someplace safe watching the fighting," Yuri replied.

"Hey, you guys mentioned a war between the Empire and the Union because of a fake letter to the head of the Union," Kluke said.

"Yeah, but it was avoided thanks to Flynn getting back the real letter," Estelle said. "So what are you saying then?"

"It was because of the Blood Alliance, right? Do you think this could be an attempt to get the Empire and Union fighting again?" Kluke asked.

"You might be onto something there, Kluke," Mist said. "Tensions are bad enough as it is. It'll only take one little spark to start the war again."

"Then we have to hurry," Flynn said.

"Yeah, we have plenty of hotheads in the Knights who'll look for any excuse to start a war with the guilds," Mist added.

"What'll happen if war does break out?" Bouquet asked.

"Then the Union and the Empire could end up destroying each other," Yuri replied. "Which is why we need to stop the person behind all of this before that happens."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guildmen guarding the outside of the Heracles were quickly dispatched as the group headed for the fortress. It took awhile, but they finally found an air vent leading right into it. Karol was able to get rid of the cover in a few seconds and they all entered. As soon as the last person was in, Repede stiffened and growled, his nose twitching.

"Heh, looks like you were right when you said they'd try getting in this way."

Everyone saw two of the Blood Alliance heading down the stairs toward them, swords at the ready.

"Hey you guys!" one called out over his shoulder. "Look what we found trying to sneak their way in!" About a dozen more showed up, sinister smiles on their faces.

"Just great..." Rita growled, pulling her scroll out. "Now everyone in the fortress knows we're here." Three more men appeared. "Now it looks like we'll have to fight every single person we run into."

"Hey, at least it's more fun this way," Judith said, taking Brionac out.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Rita replied. A couple of mages in the guild were begining to cast their spells.

"Let's just get his over with and kick their boss's ass!" Yuri shouted, charging at the nearest guildman and swinging Second Star.

"O din of this modest land... Stone Blast!" Mist and Rita both said, conjuring pieces of stone and launching them at the men going after them.

"Divine judgement for an evil soul...Sacred Penance!" Estelle said, her Mystic Arte blasting all the guildmen back while healing her allies at the same time.

"Ultra Punishing Smash!" Karol shouted, the arte knocking out a mage. Repede finished the mage off with Sonic Dog, letting out a victory howl afterwards. The warrior dog spun around, using his dagger to block the sword of a guildman.

"Stupid mutt!" he spat. Repede stared death at the guildman through his one good eye and broke the sword lock with the man and performed his Mystic Arte. He shot forward, slashing the man bafore spinning aroung, blue energy surrounding Repede. He growled, opening his left eye and shot forward again, his dagger ripping through the man. Repede glanced around for a new opponet, his left eye closed once again.

"Final Gale!" Yuri and Flynn shouted, using the arte they made at Aurnion to take out a large man giving them a bit of trouble.

"Blitz Claw!" Marumaro said. Bouquet and Hippo had merged with Saber-Tiger and now the attack was stronger and faster, sending a man through one of the steel walls.

"Sky Terror!" Jiro shouter. Minotaur's horns glowed in a blue light and he shot forward, spinning, into a mage that had cast Splash at Kluke, who protected herself with Feather Protect, and made the mage face the same fate Marumaro had imposed on the man.

"Flame Dragon!" Mist shouted, casting a circle of fire in front of her. A dragon of flames shot out of it, englulfing a few of the Blood Alliance in flames.

"Moonlight Drop!" Judith said, killing yet another guildman. Blue Dragon finished the last one with Blue Explosion.

The Shadows vanished and the group headed through the fortress, coming into conflict with a few more men. Brave Vesperia was leading the way, since they had already been through Heracles. Some of the security had been reactivated, so the spider-like robots were added to the list of enemies.

An ambush caught them off guard at one point, but the group won with only a few injuries that Estelle healed before they continued onward. By now, the Blood Alliance was coming at them from everywhere as they got closer and closer to the control room, but the group was still able to win.

At last, they barged into the control room, seeing a long blonde-haired man with a scar over his face and wearing a black jacket, surrounded by more of the Blood Alliance. He took out a familiar sword.

"The False Dein Nomos!" Rita shouted in surprise. "I thought we destroyed it!"

"Alexei was using Ghasfarost to develop enough of these to arm his loyal Knights in the Royal Guard," the man explained. "We found a prototype in the basement of the tower and installed a blastia in it. Now I possess a weapon powerful enough to kill all of you where you stand."

"Hold on, Sky," one of the men said to the leader. "What are we supposed to do, then?"

"Die!" Yuri shouted, leaping over the platform, followed by Flynn.

"Wait for me, sir!" Mist exclaimed, leaping after Flynn. Everyone else rushed down the stairs, but the guildmen intercepted them, leaving Yuri, Flynn, and Mist to fight Sky.

"Even if you do manage to kill me, the Union is coming to Zaphias," Sky said.

"What the hell do you mean by that?!" Yuri demanded.

"We have a few of Alexei's former followers on our side," Sky replied. "Wearing the Knight's uniform, they attacked Dahngrest, declaring it to be war on the Union."

"Son of a bitch!" Mist growled, her grip on Last Fencer tightening. "And now you're attacking the Empire to make it seem like Harry Whitehorse declared war on us!"

"I respected Barbos's ambitions," Sky said. "I am simply picking us where he left off." He turned to Flynn. "It's because of you that the war didn't happen in the first place." Then he glared at Yuri. "And you are the one that killed Barbos. I have every reason to end both of your lives right now."

"I'd like to see you try," Yuri growled.

"I won't allow you to kill Yuri or the Commandant!" Mist shouted.

"It's time to put you down," Flynn said. The three charged, swords at the ready. Sky lifted up the False Dein Nomos, releasing a burst of energy that threw the three back. Getting back up, they went at him again. This time, Sky sidestepped, swinging his sword at Yuri. Yuri tried to block, but the sword sank into his side. He staggered back, Flynn catching him and Mist standing in front of the two while Flynn healed the wound.

"Dragon Claw!" Mist shouted, swinging her sword and releasing the red energy wave. However, Sky held the sword up again, releasing another burst of energy that cancelled out Dragon Claw. Yuri and Flynn got up and charged at Sky, bringing their swords down. Sky parried and pushed back, making the two stumble back. He unleashed one more energy blast, sending the two flying through the glass above the control panel.

Mist reacted quickly, leaping back and grabbing Flynn's hand and used the other to grab the edge of the fortress. Flynn, meanwhile, had caught Yuri. Mist cursed under her breath as the total weight of the two strained at her arm.

"I swear when this is over, you two had better lose the bricks you're carrying," Mist hissed. "Because you two are heavier than hell!"

"Well, excuse me!" Yuri retorted. "It's not my fault you don't have any muscle whatsoever!"

"Say that again, and I'll ask Flynn to drop you!" Mist shouted back. Then a shadow fell over her and she looked up. "Oh hell..."

Sky was standing over her, sword raised. "Now you die!" Before the sword made contact, Mist's fingers slipped and the three went falling from Heracles.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yuri!" Karol shouted when Sky had blasted Yuri and Flynn outside Heracles, Mist catching them just in time.

"If only these guys would die already!" Rita spat. They were surrounded as more of the Blood Alliance arrived. Her head snapped over to where Sky was standing over the edge, a scream sounding as he stabbed his sword downward.

"Oh no!" Estelle gasped. "Yuri! Flynn! Mist!"

"We'll have ta rescue them later," Raven said. "For now, we need ta worry 'bout ourselves."

"But- -" Estelle began to protest, but Judith stopped her.

"It'll be fine," Judith replied. "They're too stubborn to die that easily."

"Hey!" Shu exclaimed. "Sky just jumped!"

"He's probably going to make sure the three are dead," Jiro said, cutting down another guildman.

"We're gonna need ta hurry, then," Raven said.

"Right!" the others replied.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"...Mist...Mist...! ...Wake up!"

Mist opened her eyes to see Yuri standing over her. His clothing was torn up from the fall and he was bleeding from a few areas. "You okay?"

"Besides the migrane I'm gonna have later, yeah," Mist replied.

"Good, now can you get off of Flynn?"

Mist's eyes widened when she realized an arm was wrapped around her waist. She quickly got up, her cheeks flushing.

"Wh-wha..." she gasped.

"Don't you remember?" Yuri asked. Mist shook her head.

"No. I kinda blacked out during the fall," she replied.

"Yeah, well you were above him during the fall, so he grabbed you to shield you from the fall. He's probably gonna be out for awhile," Yuri said and sighed. "Why the hell is he always doing things like that?" Then Yuri gasped. "Oh no! Sky's coming!"

Mist turned around and saw that Sky was coming at them, sword poised to strike. Mist tried to get up, but a throbbing headache made her sit down again. Yuri readied his sword.

"I'll hold him off," Yuri said. "Take Flynn and get outta here!"

"Are you insane?!" Mist exclaimed. "You'll get yourself killed!"

"Not to sound rude or anything, but I fight better when I'm not trying to defend someone at the same time," Yuri replied. "I'll regroup with the others and find you guys. Now go already!"

Mist hesitated then nodded. She leaned down, wrapping one of Flynn's arms around her neck and tried to hoist him up. The headache returned, making her lose her balance for a second, but she carried Flynn away. She grittted her teeth in annoyance when a few of the Blood Alliance noticed them, Sky barking out an order to kill them and then it being silenced by the clash of Yuri's sword against his.

Mist moved faster in the direction of Deidon Hold. She saw a few monsters attack the guildmen, Mist sighing in relief. Eventually, she looked back to see that Zaphias and the Heracles were a ways away. However, she needed to get Flynn to Deidon Hold quickly. His fall had left an injury on his head, the blood dripping on her shoulder and the ground. Plus, the monsters were definitely not going to just ignore them. The way to the Hold was almost free of trees, so finding shelter would be impossible.

Finally, she couldn't take anymore and collapsed to her knees, letting go of Flynn's arm so he now rested on the ground. Panting, Mist looked back. They were far from Zaphias now, the barrier rings the only thing she could make out in the darkening sky. She knew she couldn't afford to waste time now, especially with Flynn out cold. Without Ba'ul, finding the two would prove difficult if they stayed in the plains. Deidon Hold was the only chance they had. But she knew it wouldn't do any good to strain herself.

She built a fire and prepared a meal after killing a squirrel monster. By now it was completely dark, the calls of a few nighttime monsters sounding. She had found a spot against a drop off above them, resting Flynn up against it. He was still unconscious, though he was a bit paler despite the bleeding having almost stopped. Mist sat down next to him, feeling herself become tired. Luckily, she had created a basic barrier to ward off monsters, so it was safe to sleep for now.

Glancing over in the direction of Zaphias, she could see flashes of orange light, signifying the fighting was still going on. Eventually, she couldn't stay awake any longer and rested her head on Flynn's shoulder, falling asleep.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at Zaphias, Sky had escaped when the others showed up to help Yuri. It was dark now and they were finishing off the last of the Blood Alliance.

"Meteor Storm!" Rita shouted, the spell lighting the sky up with each impact. This managed to make the rest of the guildmen lose their nerve and flee, some Knights in pursuit.

"I wonder where Mist took Flynn," Karol said.

"She was heading in the direction of Deidon Hold," Yuri replied. "She's probably going their to seek medical help."

"Without Ba'ul, we'll have to head there on foot," Judith said.

"That's right," Kluke added. "It's hard for Phoenix to teleport somewhere she hasn't been to."

"Oh yeah," Raven said. "We teleported right past it."

"But aren't they in danger?" Shu asked.

"That's right," Estelle replied. "There are monsters all over the plains."

"It shouldn't be a problem if Mist can make a basic barrier," Rita pointed out. "I've seen her experimenting on making one before."

"Well, let's hope she can," Yuri said. "Otherwise, they could end up a monster's dinner."

"Yuri, don't go sayin' that otherwise they will," Raven replied.

"Gimme a break, old man," Yuri sighed. "You seriously don't believe I'm cursed, do you?"

"Trust me, Yuri," Rita said with half-opened eyes. "You were born under a really unlucky star."

"Oh, and you weren't?"

"Hey!"

"Stop it, you two!" Estelle exclaimed. "We need to go out and find Flynn and Mist before they really do end up in danger!"

"Yeah, I know," Yuri replied. "But we need to head out in the morning. It's too dark for us to see anything."

"It's okay, Estelle," Kluke said, walking over to the princess. "I'm sure they'll be fine."

"And don't even think about heading out on your own to look for them," Yuri added. "The last thing we need is to go searching for some tomboy princess as well."

"You're mean," Estelle pouted.

"C'mon, let's all get some rest fer tomorrow," Raven said.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flynn woke with a groan. It felt like all nine Giganto Monsters were having a party in his head. Looking around, he saw that they were in the plains. Deidon Hold was just up ahead; Flynn could see the towering walls protecting the town from the Giganto Monster, Brutal.

He noticed Mist was resting against him, fast asleep. Flynn put a hand on her shoulder.

"Mist. Mist, wake up," he said. Mist blinked open her eyes and looked up.

"I'm glad you're awake sir. I'll have a doctor see to you in Deidon Hold," Mist replied, lifting her head.

"Why Deidon Hold?" Flynn asked. Mist lowered her gaze.

"The battle was still going on at Zaphias and Lady Estellise was in the Heracles. Sky had come out and was trying to kill all three of us, but Yuri held him back, telling me to take you someplace safe until they can reach us. I figured Deidon Hold would be best, since we can find a healer there." She lifted her gaze to Flynn's. "I-I also heard from Yuri that...that you shielded me from the fall."

"I just didn't want you to be hurt as badly," Flynn replied.

When Mist opened her mouth to reply, all she said was, "Can you walk on your own?"

"I think so," Flynn replied. However, when he got to his feet he cried out in pain and fell forward, Mist catching him. "I think something might be broken."

"We can take care of that once we get to the Hold," Mist said. "I'll help you."

When she and Flynn reached Deidon Hold, Knights were rushing forward to help the Commandant, one bringing a few mages who knew healing artes.

After a couple hours, both had their wounds treated. Flynn had a few ribs and his right leg broken in the fall, but the healers managed to repair the bones enough to where it would only be sore in those areas, but not incredibly painful.

Going to a Knight, Flynn said, "I want an extended watch on the entrance of the Hold. According to the new leader of the Blood Alliance, some of Alexei's former followers attacked Dahngrest to get them to start a war with the Empire."

"Understood, sir!" the Knight replied, saluting, and returned to his post.

"The Gerios Blastia, the Balaur, Duke, and now this," Flynn mumbled as Mist walked over to him. "Looks like we won't be having a break anytime soon."

"But if we did, all you'd have is paperwork," Mist giggled. "You'd be complaining day and night about not being able to get out of the castle."

"Heh, guess you're right on that one," Flynn replied. "But for now, we need to put all our effort into solving these. Then we'll be able to relax."

Mist smiled at him. "I'm looking forward to that, sir."


	12. Aska and Shadow

Yuri and the others reached Deidon Hold at last. As soon as Estelle saw Flynn she dashed over, pulling him into a tight and painful embrace.

"Oh Flynn! I'm so glad you're all right!" Estelle exclaimed.

"L-Lady Estellise... you're hurting me..." Flynn replied, squirming. Estelle let go and backed up.

"Oh I'm sorry!" she said. "I'm just glad to see you safe!" Mist came walking over and her gaze switched from Flynn to Estelle and back to Flynn again.

"Uh, sir...?" she said.

"It's nothing, Mist," Flynn replied. "Lady Estellise is just making sure I'm fine."

"Well, Sky gave us the slip," Yuri said. "The Knights retook Heracles, though."

"Good, but we still have a possible war to worry about," Flynn replied.

"What I'm worried about is Omaro," Judith said. "While we infiltrated the Heracles, I didn't see any sign of him. There's a possibility he had to flee, or he was turned into an apatheia."

"Let's hope he did get away," Yuri said.

"Anyway, Ba'ul's wounds have been healed and the Fiertia's been fixed," Judith continued. "Ba'ul told me he senses the Gerios Blastia at the Four Isles in Desier. He can take us there so we can investigate."

"Then after that we can look for Omaro," Yuri said. Judith nodded and called Ba'ul telepathically. A few moments later, the Entelexeia appeared with the Fiertia and landed, the group going on board. He took off and flew southeast over Nordipolica and landed at one of the four islands near the path to the city. On the island was a rock formation.

Approaching the formation, they stopped at a pile of rocks blocking the entrance.

"Does this stone look really worn down to any of you?" Rita asked, inspecting the rocks.

"It looks like it's been pretty worn down by wind," Raven commented.

"Huh...?" Yuri said, holding up a glowing Abyssion. At the same time, a light from the rubble started glowing as well.

"That's the sword we got from the elder in Myorzo," Judith said. There was a sudden bright flash of light, blinding and startling everyone. When it vanished, the rocks had been blown away and a spear was in its place. "...A spear came from inside the rock...?"

"It's shape...It looks like this is a fell arm, too," Karol said.

"Yes, I think so," Judith agreed.

"Looks like this is a weapon made for you, Judith," Mist said. "The rest of us don't use spears."

"It seems like there's some sort of strange power linking these two weapons together," Yuri said.

"Hey, I think we can get inside from here!" Karol exclaimed.

"Altima and the Gerios Blastia are probably inside," Flynn said. Judith walked forward, picking up the fell arm.

"...Zarich..." she murmured.

"Huh?" Bouquet asked.

"I can hear the spear's name in my head..." Judith replied. She shrugged and turned to the others. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go inside, already!"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upon entering, the cavern was lit up with a yellow light. Aer was flowing from a fissure in the middle of the room. Near a small pathway over the fissure was an apatheia and the Gerios Blastia.

"Altima..." Judith murmured. She and the others went over to is.

"This is..." Estelle murmured.

"It looks like this is an aer krene." Rita said.

"Wow, who would've thought a natural aer krene would be left here..." Judith commented, gazing around at the crystals of aer.

"With that giant rock sealin' the entrance, it makes sense nobody could get inta here until now," Raven added.

"A perfect place to hide the blastia from the Balaur," Kluke said. Yuri was staring down at the Sorcerer's Ring.

"What's up, Yuri?" Karol asked. Yuri walked onto the rock bridge.

"You shouldn't get too close..." Estelle warned. The Sorcerer's Ring began glowing, startling everyone. Rita ran over.

"W-wait, let me see that!" she exclaimed. Yuri held it up for her to inspect. "Aha, just as I thought! It's just like the ones we saw before. The internal geometry is changing."

"What...what do you think will happen if you use it?" Karol asked.

"Why don't you give it a try?" Rita suggested.

"How's this?" Yuri asked, activating the ring. It shot out a red orb of aer.

"Whoa...The ord's color is different from last time..." Karol said. "W-what is it?"

"...The difference in color is due to an increase in fire attributes..." Rita answered.

"Fire..." Estelle murmured. "I wonder if it could burn anything you wanted."

"I think... that's probably not the case," Rita replied. "It seems beyond the Sorcerer's Ring's capabilities."

"What was it? The two types of aer are reacting to each other, or something?" Karol asked.

"On a basic level, that's pretty much right," Rita replied.

"I seeee," Raven said. "So the ring can burn a tree or a vine, since they've got aer runnin' through 'em."

"Not all material has aer flowing through it, so there are a lot of things the Sorcerer's Ring wouldn't be able to ignite," Rita replied.

"So depending on what's hit by the blast, some things will break, and other things will burn?" Judith asked.

"I'd think most objects wouldn't even react at all," Yuri said.

"Yes, that's right," Rita replied. "Normally, aer mixes with the surrounding atmosphere, and nothing happens at all. But if you take a mass of aer and collide it with a material that already contains aer...The violence of the sudden confluence of aer can destroy or ignite the original that was struck."

"Mmm, that makes sense," Karol said.

"...I'm totally lost..." Shu murmured.

"Rita, I think you might need to dumb down your explanation several notches," Jiro said. "The idiot here is totally incapable of following that."

"Oh come on, Jiro," Kluke said. "You can't honestly say you understood all of that either."

"That's all a bit too complicated for me to wrap my head around," Yuri admitted. "But at least it's clear that we can put this ring to good use."

"So you mean... we could use this to burn up walls or trees that are blocking us from getting somewhere we need to go?" Karol asked.

"Yeah, we can go places we couldn't before..." Yuri replied. "Let's go around and see!"

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Mist asked, pointing to Altima's apatheia and the Gerios Blastia. "We still need to convert Altima into a spirit!"

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Rita exclaimed. "Estelle, come over here."

Estelle did as she was told and Rita waved her hand in front of her, bringing up the aer krene's control panel. "Okay, get into position." She glanced over at the Shadow Wielders. "You can stand back. We have enough people. Now, let's begin."

When the process of spirit conversion was complete, a bright light enveloped the apatheia and a bird made of light took its place.

"...What...happened...?" the spirit asked.

"Is that you, Altima?" Judith asked.

"...Yes..." the spirit replied. "I was once Altima...but I see that I am not longer an Entelexeia...I require a new name..." The other five spirits appeared.

"A new spirit has been born, one that controls the light," Undine explained.

"The binder of light..." Estelle murmured. "How about Aska?"

"Aska...Very well. I shall now be known as Aska," Aska replied. "Ahh, I feel so much power flowing through me!"

"We welcome you, Aska," Efreet greeted. Sylph turned to the group.

"Omaro has become an apatheia," the wind spirit murmured sadly. "He is where you saw him. Please, turn him into a spirit."

"We will," Estelle promised. The six spirits vanished.

"Guess it's back to Zaphias," Yuri said.

"Hey, come to think of it there was a rock formation just like this south of Zaphias," Mist said. "If it's an aer krene as well, we could bring Omaro's apatheia to it."

"Good idea," Flynn replied. "Let's head back then."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upon reaching Zaphias, Leblanc came running toward them.

"What is it?" Flynn asked.

"Commandant, look what we found," Leblanc said. He held out an apatheia. "It was near the ocean. One of the Knights just happened upon it."

"Well, that was easy," Yuri said.

"Good work," Flynn told Leblanc, taking Omaro's apatheia. "Now, I want the Knights to prepare for an attack on Zaphias."

This took Leblanc by surprise. "What do you mean, sir?"

"The Blood Alliance launched two different attacks," Flynn explained. "One here and the other on Dahngrest with Alexei's former followers wearing their Knight uniform. According to the new leader of the Blood Alliance, the Union could be sending out a war party on Zaphias. I want the situation explained to Emperor Ioder right away. Also, I want a group of Knights to head for the rock formation at the Four Isles. The Gerios Blastia is inside and I want it moved here."

"Yes sir!" Leblanc replied, saluting, and headed for the castle.

"So now let's head for the rock formation here," Yuri said.

Ba'ul flew them to the location, which wasn't that far away. Coming up to the area, another pile of stone blocked the entrance. Yuri held up Abyssion, but nothing happened.

"...I guess no spear's gonna jump out of this one..." he said.

"Maybe ya could use the Socerer's Ring ta destroy it?" Raven suggested. Yuri held the ring up and fired the red aer at the stone. The pile broke apart, revealing the entrance. "Yah, crumbled like a cookie!"

"Despite all your faults, old man, you've got good intuition," Yuri commented, turning to Raven.

"Whaddaya mean despite my faults?!" Raven exclaimed.

"Let's go in and see what's there!" Estelle said.

"Lead the way, ye of little patience..." Raven sighed.

"Hurry up, or you'll be left behind!" Kluke called out. She and the others were heading into the cavern.

"Hey! Wait fer me!" Raven cried out, running after them.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So this is an aer krene, too..." Estelle said. She and the others were near the path going over the fissure.

"I guess there are more around the world that we thought?" Raven said.

"You think there are still more in other places?" Karol asked.

"I think there might be," Judith replied. "There are surely a lot of places on the planet that humans haven't laid eyes on."

"How's it look, Yuri?" Rita asked.

"All I have to do is get close, right?" Yuri walked forward and the Sorcerer's Ring began to glow.

"Aha, there we go!" Karol exclaimed.

"Let me see," Rita demanded. Yuri walked over to her and held the ring of for her to see. "The geometry's already changed."

"And that mean?" Raven asked.

"Time for a test shot," Yuri replied. He turned around and activated the ring, this time white aer shooting out faster and farther than before.

"Wow, it powered up a lot!" Karol exclaimed.

"Judging from the size of the Sorcerer's Ring, I think it's reached its limit," Rita said.

"I think this is enough to do what we need to do," Yuri replied.

"I hafta say, I'm surprised at all of the different effects aer can have," Raven said.

"Well you see- -" Rita started to say, but was cut off by Karol.

"And then, the application of those effects on certain objects allowed the technologies of blastia and magic to be developed."

"Well, converted mana is- -" Rita tried saying, but was interrupted again. This time by Judith.

"So aer is divided into different attributes in the form of magic, and when it's used, it releases energy and then turns into aer again."

"So that's how aer's helped sustain our day-to-day lives..." Estelle said.

"Pretty much," Mist replied, crossing her arms.

"...I'm still confused..." Shu murmured.

"Still?" Kluke asked.

"...I give up..." Rita said.

"No, your explanations are just too hard to understand," Yuri replied. Repede barked in agreement.

"Well anyways, let's make Omaro a spirit," Judith said.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the process was finished, a black humanoid spirit had been created. On the chest was a large eye and the head was faceless. Claws came out all over its body. According to Undine, this spirit controlled darkness.

"I require a new name, as I am no longer the Entelexeia Omaro," the spirit said.

"The binder of darkness...How about Shadow?" Estelle replied.

"Then my name shall be Shadow," Shadow replied.

"So that's seven spirits now," Rita said. "You think you have enough power to destroy the Gerios Blastia?"

"We do not know, but most likely not," Efreet replied.

"Yes, Alrodoh's apatheia is more powerful than one might expect," Aska added. Gnome stiffened and howled.

"Gnome says that there is something occuring outside," Sylph translated.

"I sense it, too," Volt said. "A large number of humans..."

"Don't tell me..." Flynn said.

"The guilds must've arrived at Zaphias," Yuri replied grimly. He turned to Judith. "What's the situation?"

"Ba'ul says that the Union and the Empire have met in the plains headed for Deidon Hold," Judith reported.

"Sir, we need to go right away," Mist said.

"Yes, we must hurry," Flynn agreed.

"Ba'ul's waiting with the Fiertia," Judith said.

"Right, let's go!" Yuri exclaimed.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Landing a safe distance from the two opposing sides, the group went the rest of the way by foot, Flynn and Mist getting in between the Union and the Empire, the others staying back, ready to jump in if things go badly.

"Enough!" Flynn shouted. "Everyone, listen to me!"

"Get the hell outta here!" a guildman barked, but Flynn ignored him.

"The Blood Alliance is behind the attack on Dahngrest," Flynn explained. "Their goal is to have the war start up once again."

"And why should we believe you?!" another guildman demanded. "For all we know, this could be another trick to get rid of the guilds once and for all!"

"I wish to talk with Harry Whitehorse," Flynn said.

"He ain't here," one person replied. "Knowing him, he wouldn't allow us guilds to wage a war on the Empire."

"Hold on," Flynn said. "Harry doesn't even know about this?!"

"The kid's too soft to know when to fight," another explained.

"Sir, this isn't working..." Mist whispered nervously.

"We all know what we saw!" another guildman shouted. "Knights attacked Dahngrest to declare war on us!"

"They were Alexei's former followers!" Flynn replied. He was getting desperate. Fighting could start at the drop of a hat at this rate.

"Prove it!" a woman demanded. "More than likely that time the Entelexeia attacked, you were trying to get us to lower our guard around you Knights!"

However, there weren't any shouts of agreement. A few guildmen began muttering to one another.

"Come to think of it, I recognized one of them from the Royal Guard when Alexei was Commandant," one man said.

"The new leader of the Blood Alliance is planning to have the Union and the Empire wipe each other out," Flynn continued.

"Yeah, Sky reminds me of Barbos," someone said. "Not to mention it was common knowledge he looked up to that thug."

One man, one of Altosk's top officers, stepped forward. "If we find out you're lying, we'll rain hell down on all of you."

"I swear I am telling the truth," Flynn replied.

"You'd better hope," the man growled. "Everyone! Let's return to Dahngrest!"

There were a few protests, but the war party headed for Deidon Hold. Flynn ordered the Knights to return and headed for Yuri and the others.

"Good job, Flynn!" Yuri called out.

"Yeah, let's head back to the capital," Flynn replied.

"I thought they weren't going to listen," Mist said, sighing in relief.

"It's a good thing they did, though," Estelle said.

"That one less thing to worry about now, at least," Yuri said.

"But we still have Sky, the Gerios Blastia, the Balaur, and Duke to deal with," Mist reminded him.

"That's right," Estelle said. "It's not over yet!"


	13. The Adephagos

Flynn was alseep when someone barged into his room, startling him.

"Sir! There's trouble!" It was Mist. Flynn was instantly alert.

"What happened?"

"The ship carrying the Gerios Blastia was attacked!" Mist exclaimed. "According to a survivor, a blonde haired man blasted a hole in the side of the ship. A three headed dragon was with him as well. They killed most of the crew and made off with the blastia!"

"Sky and the Balaur stole the blastia?!" Flynn replied.

"I've already informed Brave Vesperia and the Shadow Wielders," Mist continued. "According to Kluke, it's possible the Balaur took Sky as a host. So Sky now wields the Shadow of Balaur."

"His next target may be Zaphias then," Flynn murmured. "Mist! I want every Knight ready for an attack! Have all the citizens evacuated to Deidon Hold as soon as possible, including Emperor Ioder!"

"Yes sir!" Mist replied and dashed out of the room.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't get how the hell this could have happened!" Yuri hissed.

"With both the Balaur and the Gerios Blastia, Sky could wipe Zaphias off the face of Terca Lumires," Rita said.

"I wonder how the Balaur came in contact with Sky in the first place," Kluke murmured.

"It doesn't matter how," Jiro replied. "They've joined together. That's all that really maters right now." He looked around. Knights were gathering the people into horse-drawn carriages. "Since it looks like everyone's being evacuated, the situation must be serious."

"All hell will rain down if the Balaur managed to absorb the blastia into itself. That'll make it pretty much unbeatable," Rita added.

"The Balaur seemed unbeatable even without the blastia," Bouquet murmured.

"This may be one battle we'll have no chance of winnin'," Raven sighed.

"Quit being such a downer," Rita retorted.

"Hey, I'm just bein' realistic here," Raven replied. He looked up as Flynn and Mist came running toward them.

"Are you all ready?" Flynn asked.

"Um, is it too late to bail?" Bouquet asked.

"We'll be fine," Shu said.

Mist looked up at the sky. "Looks like a storm's coming..."

"We must defeat the Balaur once and for all," Judith said. She pulled Zarich out, looking around for any sign of Sky. "Ba'ul's keeping watch in the sky."

Yuri stiffened. "Shut up..." The silence was broken by a roar in the distance.

"They're coming..." Mist murmured, pulling Last Fencer out. Lightning flashed and rain came pouring down as the large figure of the Balaur came into sight. However, it had legs and a tail and it's underbelly and heads were yellow while the rest was purple.

"It's taken form!" Kluke exclaimed.

"It probably absorbed the Gerios Blastia into itself," Rita said.

"But where's Sky?" Estelle asked.

"Probably inside the Shadow," Shu replied. The Balaur collided with the barrier, getting thrown back. It opened all three mouths and black energy filled them. It released the attack, hitting the barrier. The rings flickered and vanished.

"It's destroyed the barrier!" Rita gasped. The Balaur flew in, landing in front of the group. The five Shadows were summoned.

"I-is that the Balaur?!" Minotaur exclaimed.

"He's absorbed the Gerios Blastia," Jiro explained.

"And I take it that means bad news for us then, huh?" Minotaur replied.

"It's coming!" Phoenix exclaimed. The Balaur swiped at the Shadows, knocking them all back.

"You die now!" Mist shouted, leaping up to one head, swinging her sword. But the Balaur simply swatted her away. Yuri and Flynn charged at it. A circular glyph appeared in front of the Balaur and energy was shot out, taking the two down.

"Moonbeam!" Judith shouted, teleporting above the Balaur and shooting the bolt of blue energy. But even though it hit the Balaur, it didn't seem hurt at all. The middle head looked up, releasing black energy that knocked the Krityan back down.

"Blue Explosion!" Shu shouted. Blue Dragon released the blue energy beam, but the Balaur held a wing in front, completely blocking the attack.

"Waves of Rage!" Minotaur unleased the onslaught of punches on the Balaur. However, it used one of the hands on the wings to grab Minotaur and throw him down.

"Light Dragon...Destruction!" Flynn shouted as he used his Mystic Arte, Radiant Dragon Fang. The three golden dragons hit the Balaur and jerked back, vanishing. At the same time, the Balaur unleased an energy beam at the Commandant, blasting him into a building.

Mist summoned the high dragon in her Mystic Arte. "High Dragon Fury!" The dual attacks made the Balaur stagger a bit, but it didn't seem hurt at all. Instead, it swatted the high dragon down, it vanishing and Mist crying out in pain.

"Th-this is impossible..." she muttered.

The Balaur proceeded to use Kronos, the power of the attack destroying several buildings of the public quarter. But then something else happened.

"What's going on?" Flynn asked as he gripped his blood-soaked tunic.

"It...it looks like...it's in pain..." Yuri gritted out as he tried pulling himself out of the rubble. He cried out when a piece of metal tore at his leg. Near Estelle, the seven spirits appeared.

"This is..." Undine murmured. The Balaur roared in agony, the Shadow turning black as night.

"The Adephagos!" Efreet exclaimed. Up above, the star Brave Vesperia began shining even brighter than before. The Balaur gave one final roar before it turned into a mass of darkness, shooting up and hitting Brave Vesperia. The sky seemed to tear open, a dark tentacle reaching down. More appeared, connecting at the star. In it's place was a golden light.

"Was the star just...destroyed?!" Estelle exclaimed.

"It's not a star," Volt said. "It's a seal for the Adephagos."

"You mean this whole time Brave Vesperia was in fact holding the Adephagos?!" Mist said.

"Correct," Aska replied. "And now it will devour the world."

"Hey, there's the Gerios Blastia!" Karol exclaimed.

"Something's happening to it, though," Rita murmured. "Is it going through spirit conversion...? Estelle! Judith! Come help me!"

"Right!" the two girls replied. They ran over and Rita brought up the control panel.

"It's as I though. It's going through a transformation, but it's starting to become an Adephagos! Estelle, synchronize! Judith, give me support! We'll make it a spirit! It's possible now since it's already trying to transform, so we'll correct it."

"Got it," Estelle replied.

"Understood," Judith added. Together, the three girls forced the core to become a spirit. The spirit was in the form of a young man with four arms, each holding a sword.

"Alrodoh!" Undine exclaimed.

"...Belius...?" the spirit murmured.

"I am the spirit Undine now," Undine replied.

"Am I...a spirit as well?"

"Yes, my king," Sylph replied, flying over.

"Then...I require a new name..."

"Estelle," Efreet said. "His power is extraordinary. Even though he is a spirit, he is still our king from long ago."

"How about Origin?" Estelle asked.

"Origin...yes, it is fitting..." Origin replied.

"Unfortunately, your rebirth has come at an unfortunate time," Shadow said.

"Yes I know, the Adephagos," Origin replied. "That will be a problem."

"With all of our power combined, we may be able to destroy it," Aska said. Gnome howled in agreement.

"But we need to be able to reach it somehow," Volt pointed out. Flynn came over.

"Aurnion will be the best place to discuss it," he said. "We should head there now and talk more."

"Very well," Origin replied. "We will await your plan." He and the other seven spirits vanished.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ba'ul took the group to Aurnion, where the residents were in panic over the appearance of the Adephagos.

"What the hell is that thing?!" one exclaimed.

"Are we all going to die?!" another shouted.

"Everyone please calm down!" Flynn said. "We'll find a way to resolve this." He turned to the nearest Knight. "Have Emperor Ioder come here right away."

"Hey, shouldn't we get the guilds involved?" Yuri suggested. "We could go talk to Harry and Natz about joining forces with the Knights for now."

"Do you really think they'll agree?" Mist scoffed. "We just barely avoided a war!"

"We have to try, though," Yuri insisted. "If we can't all work together, we're done for."

"Very well," Flynn replied. "Tell them to come here so we can discuss a plan for destroying the Adephagos."

"Got it. Judy, call Ba'ul," Yuri called over to the Krityan.

"Right," Judith replied. Ba'ul soon appeared with the Fiertia, everyone except Flynn and Mist getting on. Ba'ul took off with a howl, headed for the nearest place, Nordipolica.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, Shu," Estelle said, walking over to the twelve-year-old, "I never got around to asking how you met everyone else."

"Oh, well Kluke and I grew up together in Talta Village," Shu replied. "Now, Jiro..."

\- - - Flashback - - -

Shu had been running around Talta Village, trying to find a Knight Master that was rumored to be arriving. He stopped a boy wearing a white shirt under a green tunic, Jiro, but hesitated.

"Well, it can't be him," Shu said to Kluke and the three boys with him.

"Hey, you," Jiro said, but Shu ignored him, glancing around.

"The Knight Master couldn't have disappeared. He's gotta be around here somewhere."

"Excuse me, I'm talking to you, you little punk," Jiro growled. Shu turned around. "First you approach someone, then you ignore them. You just don't have any manners at all, do you?"

"Look who's talking! You interrupted my search for a very important person!" Shu retorted. "That's the only reason I stopped you in the first place."

"Shu, you might wanna back off..." Kluke whispered.

\- - - End Flashback - - -

"...And then Jiro tried summoning his Shadow and Zola stopped him," Shu finished. "Now Marumaro's an interesting story. You see, there was a misunderstanding. We started fighting and here's how it ended..."

\- - - Flashback - - -

Marumaro and Saber-Tiger were overwhelming Zola and Killer Bat, and Jiro and Minotaur with his speed. But then Marumaro noticed Kluke...

"Maro..." Marumaro gasped. He and Saber-Tiger then went for her.

"Oh no!" Jiro exclaimed.

"Heads up, Kluke!" Zola shouted. "He's coming around! And he's moving fast!"

Kluke turned around, horror in her expression.

"Wait! Hold on a minute!" Marumaro exclaimed, reaching a hand out. Kluke squeezed her eyes shut but then opened them. Marumaro was squeezing her breasts.

"I was hoping for bigger breasts," Marumaro commented, turning. "You've got a pretty face but I'm a big breast kind of guy. REALLY big..."

"LEAVE ME ALONE YOU FREAK!" Kluke screamed at the top of her lungs. When she made a grab for the Devee, Marumaro leaped over her and flipped up her pink dress.

"White panties, huh?" Marumaro muttered, turning and crossing his arms. "I really can't think of anything more boring. Might I suggest something a little more lacey? Maybe some tulips..."

Kluke turned, her eyes red with fury. "Shut up, you creep!" she growled, reaching for him. Marumaro smiled and leaped away. Kluke started throwing stones at him.

"You're wasting your time with those silly rocks! You're not fast enough to catch me!" Marumaro teased.

"No, but I am."

Marumaro stopped and looked up. Standing over him was Zola and Killer Bat. Killer Bat conjured his sword up and swiped at Marumaro. The Devee leaped away and resummoned Saber-Tiger, the two running away. Killer Bat vanished and Zola put her sword away.

"They ran away!" Jiro and Shu exclaimed.

"GET HIM, YOU GUYS!" Kluke shouted. "DON'T LET HIM GO! I'M GONNA WRING HIM BY HIS PUNY NECK!"

"I'm not running away!" Marumaro retorted. "I'm just regrouping to prepare for my next attack! I'm gonna get you guys for what you did to this town!"

"Who was he...?" Jiro murmured.

"Urgh! Damn him!" Kluke snarled.

"Oh no!" Shu shouted. Everyone turned to him. "He grabbed all our things!"

Everyone went over to him. Sure enough, all there bags had been stolen.

"That jerk! How'd he get our stuff?!" Kluke and Shu exclaimed.

"What are you asking for? You're the one who let our stuff out of your sight," Jiro said.

"I was kinda distracted!" Shu retorted. "I didn't expect the creep to be a thief as well!"

"Yeah, it's never your fault. You're a big idiot," Jiro replied. Shu grabbed the collar of his white shirt.

"Call me that to my face!"

"I did, you big idiot!"

"That's enough, you two. We don't have time to fight amongst ourselves," Zola said. the two boys broke apart, huffing. "We should be focusing our minds on a way to get our stuff back."

"We just have to wait. He's coming back for his revenge," Kluke pointed out.

"That won't help," Zola replied, crossing her arms. "He's apparently too fast for us. We need to set up some kind of a trap. That's the only way I think we'll be able to catch him."

"Hey, let me handle that!" Shu piped up. "I know how to catch him for sure! I've got a plan that can't miss!" He looked over at Kluke.

"Huh?" Kluke asked.

"Let me run this by you. I guarentee you'll think it's brilliant!" Shu replied.

Three seconds later...

"WHAT ARE YOU THINKING, YOU FLAMING IDIOT!" Kluke screamed, pounding Shu on the head. "How could you believe that'd be even remotely acceptable?!"

"It's not like we have a lot of options here! Why don't you cooperate?!" Shu retorted.

"Just give me one good reason why I should?!" Kluke replied, blushing and turning away.

"C'mon, Kluke. I'm begging you for you're help here!" Shu pleaded. Kluke turned angrily to him.

"Here's an idea! Why don't you go use your own underwear, genius?!"

"Come on! We're wasting time! Just be reasonable!" Shu replied. "I think it's pretty clear he's not into boys' underwear!"

"But, um..." Kluke murmured.

"You're not gonna let him get away with this, are you?!" Shu demanded. "He's bad! We have to stop him no matter what! You want revenge before he gets revenge, right?" Kluke noded nervously. "Then help us catch him..."

Later...

Kluke, Jiro, and Shu were positioned beind a pile of rubble. Kluke and Jiro were blushing, there eyes closed, while Shu was smiling devilishly. Flapping from a flagpole, were Kluke's panties.

"You really think this'll work?" Jiro asked.

"Yeah, no doubt about it!" Shu replied. "Like a bear drawn to honey."

"But it's so undignified! Those are Kluke's panties up there, for goodness sake!" Jiro exclaimed.

"Exactly right! And that, my friend, is the beauty of my plan! There's no better bait for that pervert than Kluke's panties flapping in the wind! He'll love it!" Shu replied. Jiro cracked one eye open, staring at the panties.

"I still don't get it. Why underwear?"

"It'll work because it's underwear!"

"I know, but underwear?"

Kluke had just reached her boiling point. "URGH! EVERYONE STOP TALKING ABOUT MY PANTIES!" She pushed the bottom of her dress down. "I'm gonna flatten the next person who says anything about my panties, 'cause it's just rude!"

"You're the one talking about your panties now!" Shu pointed out.

"But their MY panties!" Kluke retorted.

"The kid's weird, but I don't think he'll fall for such an obvious trap..." Jiro said.

Just then, Marumaro was seen sneaking around behind pieces of rubble, coming closer and closer to the panties.

"Well, believe it," Shu said.

"You're kidding..." Jiro muttered.

"Look there! What's the matter with that creep!" Kluke hissed, making a fist.

"I guess he can't control himself when it comes to your feminine charms," Jiro replied.

"Quiet! You're gonna spook him!" Shu whispered. Marumaro finally made it to the flagpole, where he reached up and grabbed the panties. He started stretching it back and forth.

"Hmm! Panties, panties, panties, panties, panties! Pan- -" He was cut off when Killer Bat suddenly grabbed him, lifting the Devee into the air. "Agh! What are you doing?! Put me down! This isn't fair!"

"It's fair to say we got you," Zola replied.

\- - - End Flashback - - -

"...We tied him up to the flagpole and ended up letting him go," Shu finished. "We later helped him against two Shadow Wielders and he joined us. Now Bouquet was... unforgettable to put it lightly..."

\- - - Flashback - - -

Shu and Zola had just rescued a busty waitress, Bouquet, from being harrassed by two men at a restaurant while escorting Legolas to Jibral. Later, she asked to repay them. However, she just gave them the most boring tour of the town. They ditched her and returned to the inn.

"That girl wasn't too bright, was she?" Shu asked.

"Not really, but she meant well," Kluke admitted.

"More importantly, she was beautiful! She had a great rack, maro!" Marumaro exclaimed, twitching his fingers.

"Hey, is that all you ever think about?" Jiro asked.

"A complete waste of time!" Legolas said. "At least we won't have to go through that again!"

"Hi, everybody!" Bouquet exclaimed, walking through the door. Everyone stared at her. "I've thought about it, and I feel I still owe you. Since I didn't pay you back properly, I've made a momentous decision! I'll devote myself to your welfare from this day forward!"

"My welfare would improve with some touchy-touchy!" Marumaro said.

Kluke punched him hard. "There's your touchy!"

"You know what? My shoulders are tight. How about pattening down these muscles?" Legolas suggested, turning around.

"Your wish is my command!" Bouquet exclaimed, saluting. She brought out a giant mallet and brought it down on Legolas, who was just barely able to get out of the way.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!" Legolas shouted.

Later, Bouquet came out carrying a tray of tea.

"I've got tea! Who's thirsty?" she asked.

"This looks bad..." Shu murmured.

"She'll never make it..." Marumaro added.

"No way!" Kluke agreed. Sure enough, Bouquet tripped and the hot tea went splashing on Legolas's head, making him scream.

"Well, that was predictable..." Shu, Jiro, Kluke, and Marumaro all said.

"I'm sorry, sir!" Bouquet exclaimed. She left and came back a moment later with a rag. "Here, wipe yourself off with this!"

"Just what I'd expect from a country bumpkin!" Legolas snapped, snatching the rag from her hands and wiping his face off. However, he paused and got a good look at just how dirty the rag actually was. He plugged his nose and held the rag out. "This stinks?! What is it, a filthy dishrag?! You gave me an old, used dishrag to clean myself off?!"

"I'm sorry!" Bouquet appologized, bowing her head. "I just grabbed the first rag I could find!"

"I see. In that case..." Legolas said before throwing the rag down. "Take it back! Did anyone ever tell you you're a walking disaster?!"

"Oh, from time to time..." Bouquet murmured.

"Hey, what the heck? Accidents can happen," Shu said.

"Some people deserve what they get," Jiro added.

"That's why we should've done boobs from the start!" Marumaro exclaimed. Kluke tok him down and started stomping on him.

"Get outta my sight!" Legolas shouted. "I don't want to see those boobs or your face ever again! I consider my life to be in mortal danger if we're even in the same room! I want you to be 30 feet away from me at all times, got it?! Any closer than that and I'll consider it an act of war!"

"I understand..." Bouquet murmured, leaving the inn. Shu turned to Legolas.

"That was harsh, old man!"

"I am not an old man," Legolas replied. "And should I do? Wait till she puts me six feet under?!"

\- - - End Flashback - - -

"...She didn't let up even after that and we ended up getting out of there as fast as possible," Shu said. "She ends up saving us after this weird fog produced by this horned seal made us and our Shadows totally drunk. Saber-Tiger and Minotaur almost destroyed the ship! But we let her join after that, though."

"You guys are definitely... interesting," Estelle replied, sweatdropping.

"Yeah well it all worked out in the end," Shu said.

"Hey you guys, we're here," Yuri said.

"Hey, look!" Rita exclaimed. "There's something on the barrier!"

"They look like Phaeroh's illusion that we fought in Desier," Judith remarked. "It looks like they're feeding off the aer from the barrier!"

"We have to get rid of them, then," Yuri said. Ba'ul landed and the group approached the Daybreaker and the Nightbreaker, two monsters looking like manta rays and had a blue core inside them, giving them the ability to invert day and night. A black mist was swirling around them. The five Shadows were summoned.

"Crushing Nail!" Shu shouted. A blue blade appeared on each of Blue Dragon's wrists and he lunged forward, slashing at Daybreaker.

"Water type attacks will be strong against the one Blue Dragon attacked," Rita said. "And fire type spells should be effective against the other."

"Got it," everyone replied.

"Eternal Breath!" Kluke shouted, Phoenix breathing fire at the Nightbreaker, followed by Saber-Tiger's fireballs.

"Aqua Laser!" Rita shouted, casting the jet of water at Daybreaker. It flew at her, whipping its tail at the mage.

"Feather Protect!" Kluke said. Phoenix's barrier made the attack bounce off.

"Champaign!" Estelle said. The pink light flew out of the ground and shot water down on the Daybreaker. It curled itself up and then quickly uncurled, going into Overlimit.

"Great, it's more powerful now," Yuri grunted as he leaped out of the way of the Nightbreaker's energy beam. "Divine Wolf- Blaze!" Abyssion was covered in flames and Yuri shot forward, slashing multiple times at the monster. It gave one final howl and vanished in a burst of black mist. All that was left was Daybreaker.

Daybreaker rammed itself into the barrier Kluke cast on herself, breaking it and throwing her back. It howled, dark rings of energy being emitted and knocking back Repede and Yuri, who tried attacking.

"Tidal Wave!" Rita shouted. A whirlwind of water surrounded Daybreaker. At the same time, Minotaur used Conquer, making the attack more powerful. The monster's agonized howl faded as it vanished in black mist.

"Glad that's done," Yuri said. "Now let's go talk to Natz, then Harry."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two days later, Natz, Harry, and a few guilds arrived at Aurnion, though there was still a bit of tension in the air. However, Brave Vesperia and the Shadow Wielders haven't come. But now, the Adephagos wasn't the only problem. A tower had risen from Aspio, forcing the mages to seek refuge in Ilyccia. According to Witcher, Aspio was completely destroyed.

"Where are they?" Mist growled, pacing back and forth impatiently. "They should've been back by now!"

"Well knowing Yuri, he's probably dragging the others around somewhere," Flynn replied.

"Yeah, but we need to come up with a plan as soon as possible," Mist said. A howl sounded and she looked up. "Finally!"

Brave Vesperia and the Shadow Wielders came running to the entrance of the new town.

"Sorry we're late," Yuri said. "We made a few stops to pick up three more fell arms: Nebilim, Mercurius, and Glasya Labolas." Raven, Estelle, and Karol held up their new weapons.

"Well, now we have a new problem," Flynn said.

"Yes we know," Rita replied, crossing her arms. "The Tower of Tarquaron. Duke managed to raise it."

"Sir Flynn!" Witcher exclaimed, running over.

"What is it, Witcher?" Flynn asked.

"The tower has created a strange formula around itself. It seems to be absorbing some kind of energy. Also, residents throughout Ilyccia have reported feeling strange," Witcher replied.

"Absorbing...Felling strange..." Rita murmured. "Is it absorbing human life?!"

"That would be what Duke meant by exchanging every human life," Yuri said.

"Human life is very pure mana," Rita explained. "Could he be using that to destroy the Adephagos?!"

"It looks like we have no choice but to turn all the blastia into spirits, then," Yuri said.

"Hold on, explain what you mean to us in the meeting," Flynn said.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flynn, Ioder, Kaufman, Natz, Mist, and Harry listened to Brave Vesperia's plan to turn every blastia core into a spirit and have the eight spirits focus that power to destroy the Adephagos on top of Tarquaron.

"If we go through with that, the blastia won't work anymore!" Mist exclaimed.

"At this point, it's either that or we all die," Yuri replied.

"Life will be difficult, but we can find a way to cope," Ioder said.

"Us guilds will form a temporary alliance with the Knights to defend the people from monsters spawned from the Adephagos," Harry said. As they all began talking amongst themselves, Brave Vesperia and the Shadow Wielders left the building.

"It will be difficult for people to accept the change that is coming," Judith pointed out.

"But it's the only way," Yuri replied. Witcher came running over to Rita.

"Come with me. We have some of Alexei's research notes that we can use to devise a network to change every blastia core into a spirit," he said.

"Good, show me," Rita replied. She and Witcher ran off into another building. Flynn and Mist came out and approached them.

"We will be accompanying you to Tarquaron," Flynn said. "Also, I want to talk to you in private, Yuri. Let's go to the entrance."

"Okay," Yuri replied. He glanced over at the others. "You should all get prepared, then."

"Okay," everyone else replied. Flynn and Yuri walked through the gate and into the grassy field.

"So are you going to tell me why you're so serious?" Yuri asked. Flynn turned to him.

"Are you just going to go like this?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"The people who control the entire world are gathered here," Flynn continued. "Now's the time to tell them all you've done."

"Not this again..." Yuri sighed.

"Half of my achievements- -or more- -are really yours..." Flynn said.

"So what? It doesn't matter who did them," Yuri replied.

"It does. Why do you always choose the option that's bad for you?" Flynn asked. "Why do you always try to bear everything by yourself? Do you think I can't take the burden?"

"...You're carrying what I can't," Yuri replied. "I know I can do what I want only because someone's watching out for me."

"But...!" Flynn protested then shook his head. "...Forget it. I can't explain. I'll just yell at you again.

"Heh heh. In that case..." Yuri said, taking Abyssion out. "Try it like this."

"Yuri...!"

"You're not going to beat me in an arguement. But you know what you can beat me in..." Yuri said, pointing the sword at Flynn. "This."

"Yeah...You're right. Just like always," Flynn replied. He took his own sword out and held it against Abyssion. "Everything I feel is in this sword!"

"...Good. Come on!"

Flynn broke away and slashed at Yuri, who blocked the attack and leaped back.

"Azure Storm!" Yuri shouted, firing off two consecutive Azure Edges. Flynn held his shield out, gritting his teeth against the force of the impact. "You keep getting better!"

"You do, too," Flynn replied, using Demonic Circle. Yuri held Abyssion up to parry and thrust the sword away before using Dragon Swarm, Flynn blocking the first strike and dodging the rest.

"I guess life's taught us both a few things," Yuri said.

"How many years has it been since we fought like this?" Flynn asked.

"Uh, we fought in the colliseum. You forget already?" Yuri replied.

"Of course not," Flynn said, avoiding Yuri's Tiger Blade. "Just...you know...a lot of stuff has happened...It's..."

"Yeah?" Yuri prompted.

"...It's just different," Flynn replied, swinging his sword and making a nick in Yuri's black tunic.

"Yeah, it feels different for me, too," Yuri agreed.

"I wonder what it is..." Flynn said.

"Doesn't matter. I am so gonna kick your ass!" Yuri replied with a smirk.

"No, no, no, no, no. I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Oh, it's on now!"

Yuri performed Wailing Havoc, knocking Flynn into the air and performing several kicks before kicking him back down. He reacted in time to dodge Yuri's Crushing Eagle.

"Tiger Blade!" both shouted. The first slash left a large gash on both of them, making them recoil.

"...Bad idea," Yuri gritted out.

"It's not over yet," Flynn said, running at Yuri. "Dragon Swarm!"

Yuri had some difficulty dodging the arte, getting cut on the arm once. As soon as the arte was finished, he shot forward, taking Flynn by surprise, and dug Abyssion into his side. Flynn staggered back, clutching the wound and was knocked to the ground by Yuri's Cerberus Strike. Yuri held his sword at Flynn's neck, knowing he won. Flynn sighed in defeat and Yuri fell to the ground next to him in exhaustion.

"I can't even win with a sword anymore..." Flynn panted.

"Hah hah hah. Loser," Yuri laughed.

"You've gotted better, Yuri," Flynn said.

"...You too," Yuri replied. "You would've beaten me easy if you were still like when we were kids."

Flynn held his sword up in front of him. "Didn't we swear on our swords when we were kids? We would fight to make people smile."

"Yeah...Even if we followed different paths."

"Even if we bear different burdens."

"Even if people praised us, or hated us..."

"The Knights and the guilds won't change. Right?" Flynn asked, glancing over at Yuri.

Yuri held his sword up. "There are places in each of us the other can't reach."

"That's why we're not alone." The two brought their swords together and started laughing.

Unseen, the five Shadow Wielders had watched the entire fight.

"Those two are weird, maro," Marumaro said.

"No, they're just good friends," Kluke said.

"Hey, what are you five doing?" Mist called out, walking toward them.

"Uh, nothing..." Shu replied. Mist glanced over to where Yuri and Flynn were getting up.

"What did they fight about this time?!" she exclaimed.

"It was...just a friendly fight, I guess," Bouquet replied. A faint smile appeared on Mist's face.

"A friendly fight...huh..." she murmured then turned to the five. "Better get rested up. Tomorrow, we head for Tarquaron!"


	14. The Final Battle

It was nighttime in Aurnion. Most of the people had turn in for the night, but the ones who were going to Tarquaron in the morning had yet to go to bed.

Flynn was sitting under a tree at the top of a hill, staring at the Adephagos. He turned his head as Mist came over.

"May I sit with you, Commandant?" she asked.

"Sure," Flynn replied. "And you can drop the formalities as well. I've been meaning to tell you that for awhile."

"Okay." Mist sat up against the tree right next to Flynn. "Tomorrow we go to Tarquaron to fight that thing."

"Not to mention Duke will more than likely be waiting for us as well," Flynn added.

Mist sighed. "Why does everything always have to go to hell?"

"Just how the world works, I guess," Flynn replied. "But this is to decide the fate of humanity. If we fail, everyone will be sacrificed to destroy the Adephagos."

"Then we'll just need to make sure that doesn't happen," Mist said. "And when we're done, maybe we could spend a little time together..." She blushed as she realized what just came out of her mouth and turned away. "Uh, Flynn, I-I didn't mean- -"

Flynn wrapped one arm around her, pulling her closer. "Don't worry. I'd like that, too."

"Flynn..." Mist murmured. The two leaned in closer until they were locking lips. Meanwhile, a certain Devee was watching the entire scene, with another certain spiky black haired boy.

"Marumaro...This feels wrong..." Shu whispered.

"Don't you think they're a perfect couple?" Marumaro asked with a toothy grin. "I bet Bouquet has fantasies of you kissing her like that!" He pointed to where Flynn and Mist had stood up, both pressing the kiss in deeper.

Shu blushed at the thought. "Y-you really think so? I just don't get why she won't get over it!"

"You are her fianceé, after all," Marumaro replied.

"Oh come on! I was still hopped up on that weird fog on the ship!" Shu exclaimed rather loudly.

"Who's there?!" Mist shouted.

"See ya!" Marumaro said, running away.

"Hey wait!" Shu shouted. Unfortunately, Mist found him.

"The hell, Shu?!" she growled. "Were you spying on me and Flynn?!"

"N-no...Well, kinda...B-but Marumaro was here, too!" Shu replied.

"I don't see him," Mist said, crossing her arms. "You have three seconds to get that ass of yours outta here before I kick it into next week!"

"Uh..."

"One..."

"But you see...!"

"Two..."

"Bye!"

As soon as Shu hightailled it, Mist came back over to Flynn, sighing and shaking her head.

"We'll have to do this some other time," she said. "Where we won't have any spectators."

"Right. Well, we'd better get some rest," Flynn said.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jiro and Kluke were sitting next to each other when they heard a yell.

"Oh come on! I was still hopped up on that weird fog on the ship!"

"Shu...?" both said.

"Who's there?!"

"Mist...?"

Marumaro came running over, a giant grin on his face. As he ran past, Kluke grabbed him by the cape, choking him.

"What did you do, Marumaro...?" she growled.

"Shu and I were just watching Mist play kissy-face with Flynn, maro," Marumaro replied, a cheeky grin still on his face.

"So where's Shu?" Jiro asked, glancing over to where Marumaro had come running from.

"Probably getting ripped to pieces by Mist, maro," Marumaro replied. Then Shu came running toward them, stopping when he got to Marumaro.

"Great! Thanks to you I'm probably now on Mist's hit list!" he exclaimed.

"Marumaro just told us you were watching Mist and Flynn make out," Kluke said, narrowing her eyes. "I thought you were better than that."

"Hey! I was trying to get Marumaro to stop watching them!" Shu retorted.

"Why do I find that hard to believe...?" Kluke mumbled.

"Anyway..." Marumaro said, grinning. "What were you and Jiro doing while we were gone, maro?"

Jiro and Kluke began blushing and stole a glance at each other.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Jiro exclaimed.

"We were just talking!" Kluke added.

"Riiiight..." Marumaro replied.

"Marumaro..." Shu whispered. "You might wanna cut that out..."

"I'm feeling in the mood for roasted cat..." Kluke growled.

"I'm a Devee, not a cat, maro!" Marumaro shouted. "See?! I don't even have a tail, maro!"

"Doesn't matter..." Kluke replied, slowly getting up. "I'll flay you all the same..."

"I'm going to bed," Jiro said, getting up and walking toward the inn. "Just make sure you don't leave a mess."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, hi Jiro!" Bouquet exclaimed when Jiro came through the door. She was sitting up in bed. "I thought you were having a date with Kluke."

Jiro blushed and twitched one eyebrow angrily. "It wasn't a date! We were just having a conversation!"

"About whether or not she'll choose you over Andropov?" Bouquet asked, a grin creeping over her face.

"What is wrong with you?!"

"Nothing, just curious," Bouquet replied with a shrug. "It just seems there's romance everywhere. Flynn and Mist, Karol and Nan, me and Shu, and even Yuri and Estelle."

"Huh?" Jiro asked.

"It's clear they have a thing for each other," Bouquet continued. "But I think Estelle may also have feelings for Flynn."

"She seems to like just about everyone," Jiro said. "Plus she knew Flynn for a couple of years, so it's obvious she thinks of him as a friend. It's the same with Kluke. We're just friends.

"Sometimes it seems you're more than 'just friends'," Bouquet replied. "Anyway, have you seen my darling?"

"Shu just got some heat from Mist after he saw her and Flynn making out," Jiro replied.

"Ooh, so they're taking it to another level!" Bouquet exclaimed.

"And Kluke's probably gutted Marumaro by now."

"That sounds like Kluke," Bouquet sighed. "So he flipped her skirt or touched her boobs or something?"

"No he was just implying Kluke and I were dating," Jiro replied.

"You were, weren't you?" Bouquet asked.

"Goodnight, Bouquet..." Jiro mumbled, plopping down in a bed.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Judith was standing in front of the blastia body when she noticed Rita coming over. "Can't sleep?"

"What about you?" Rita asked.

"Oh, I was just out talking with Ba'ul and it got late," Judith replied.

"Well, I was just checking to make sure my calculations were correct," Rita said.

"Hehe," Judith giggled.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing."

"...I hate it when you say that," Rita grumbled, scratching her head.

"That's strange. I don't mean anything by it," Judith replied. Rita sat down in front of the blastia body.

"Hey. What are you going to do after this is over?" Rita asked. "If all goes right, all the blastia will stop working. Including hermes blastia."

"Right..." Judith murmured.

"You won't have anything to do," Rita continued.

"I guess not..." Judith admitted. "That's all I had. Ba'ul was my only friend. Destroying hermes blastia was my only purpose. I mean, I had my reasons, but..."

"But?" Rita prompted. Judith sat down next to her.

"After traveling around with you all, I guess... I don't really care anymore."

"You're just gonna drop it like that?" Rita asked. Judith turned to her.

"What are you going to do?" she asked. "You lived for your blastia research."

"Th-there's tons of stuff I could study," Rita replied, looking away. "Besides...I realized there are things I can believe in besides blastia. I don't have any family, so I don't...but...I kinda like, you know, how we are..." Rita blushed and stood up, putting her hands to her hips. "Hey. That's just between us. You can't tell anybody."

"I won't. I promise," Judith replied. "...Heh heh. It's fun to have secrets with someone."

"You've changed," Rita said. "You never would have said anything like that when we first met."

Judith sighed. "All the different people, different things on this journey... You know?"

"Yeah, I do," Rita replied. "I never dreamed I'd end up like this...I don't want to go back."

"Me neither," Judith agreed, standing up. "When everything's done...maybe I'll just travel the world with Ba'ul."

"That's nice," Rita replied. "Hey, take Estelle too. There's still a lot in this world she should see."

"You're not coming?" Judith asked. "It'll be so lonely without you."

"Uh...W-well, I guess I could..." Rita murmured.

"Well, if we're going to do that, first we have to protect the world," Judith said.

"Of course. We'll show that thing," Rita replied, staring up at the Adephagos.

"Yes. We certainly will."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Humph...that's the last one," Karol said after hauling a log onto the wood pile. Raven was with him.

"Good work," Raven said. "Sorry for making you work right before the final battle."

"Don't worry about it!" Karol replied. "I'm a member of a guild. I have to do something. Hey, Raven. It's nice to be able to do things for others."

"Ohhh, such grown-up words from master Karol," Raven said.

"Yeah, I never did stuff just for other people," Karol continued. "I wanted to show others that I could do stuff. I thought that was my dream, but I guess not."

"To make a guild. To make the guild big. To be a respected boss," Raven said, rubbing the stubble on his chin. "All boys have those dreams. It's fine."

"But that was all just so I could look cool," Karol replied. "I mean, there's so much you can't do alone."

"Yeah, I guess so," Raven agreed. Karol sat down.

"I thought I had to do it alone or I'd look bad or it'd be worthless or whatever. That's not helping people."

Raven sat next to Karol. "I see."

"If you work together, you can do a lot more and make a lot more people happy," Karol explained. "I realized that traveling with everyone. I like that a lot more."

"...Young master Karol, you are something," Raven said. "So far ahead of this old man. You are cool enough as you are."

"You're cool, too, Raven," Karol replied. "Not as cool as Yuri, but..."

"Oh! I'm hurt!" Raven exclaimed.

"Heh heh. So what's your dream, Raven?" Karol asked.

"Me? To be stinking rich with bevies of gorgeous women all around, mmmm...I'm kidding," Raven added when Karol narrowed his eyes at him, sweatdropping. Raven rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Now...Hmm...I'm finally back to just living. So I guess my dream is to be able to dream again someday."

"That sounds pretty hard..." Karol replied. "But I'm sure you can do it."

"Thank you. I think I'll get it," Raven said.

"Hey, is your heart...OK?" Karol asked.

"Yeah, it's weird, but it's fine. Even if I work it hard, it just keeps going," Raven replied.

"I guess that's the effect of the spirits," Karol said.

"I guess this plan isn't all bad," Raven added. Karol stood up.

"I'm glad I met everyone. I mean, you too, of course."

"I'm glad I met you too. Really," Raven replied.

"...We're gonna win tomorrow," Karol said. Raven stood up.

"In a big way. All right, we should get to bed soon. Lack of sleep is the elderly's worst enemy."

"Okay. 'Night," Karol said.

"Yeah. Good night," Raven repled. Karol headed off toward the inn and Raven let out a sigh. "Dreams are so not my style, but here I am. Dreaming. What am I gonna do with myself?" He gave one last sigh and headed for the inn.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Outside the entrance of Aurnion, Yuri and Repede were sitting next to each other, staring at the Adephagos when Estelle came over.

"It's almost time."

"Yeah. I start to think about it and I can't sleep," Yuri said.

"You get that way, too?" Estelle asked.

"You say it like I'm made of iron or something," Yuri replied.

"...Would you mind if I sat next to you?" Estelle asked. Repede glanced at her and stood up, walking away. Estelle came over and sat down in the spot Repede was. "Thank you...Heh heh, it's warm. Tomorrow we face that Adephagos.

"It's ironic that we're actually using Alexei's research to fight it," Yuri said.

"If they had only been able to think of others..." Estelle murmured.

"Yeah," Yuri replied. "But they made their choices. Nothing we can do about that."

"Choices..." Estelle whispered. "You've always made your own choices, haven't you?"

"I figured if someone's gonna choose, it might as well be me," Yuri replied. "And I won't find out if I made the right choices until the end."

"But...that's wonderful," Estelle said. "Making a choice is so hard."

"You made your own choices, too," Yuri pointed out.

Estelle shook her head. "I think I figured it out while traveling with you all. To live means to choose...and to have the resolve to make these choices."

"I think that's kind of overdoing it," Yuri said.

"I always just played the role I was given," Estelle replied. "I was happy to heal people and be thanked. But then I learned my power was poisoning the world...Someone was always using me..."

"...What about now?" Yuri asked.

"I...I don't know," Estelle replied. "But...I feel like I'm here, doing what I can, because it's my choice, my wish. I'm glad I came on this journey with you, Yuri."

"Me too," Yuri agreed. "I wasn't too sure what would ahppen when you asked me to take you out of the castle."

"I'm sure," Estelle replied. Yuri stood up.

"I like traveling," he said. "Lots of different people, different experiences. We travelled the whole world, but I never got tired of it. I think it fits me. I think I'll just keep on going around."

"And keep helping people in need," Estelle added. Yuri glanced down at her.

"Hah hah hah. Maybe there's some tomboy princess out there being chased by an evil monster."

"...You're mean," Estelle pouted. Yuri laughed and Estelle stood up. "...It's strange. Right now...I'm not scared at all. If anything, the thought that a new world is about to dawn is..."

"The Adephagos won't kill us. We'll live on," Yuri said.

"And I'll be able to stay with everyone. With you," Estelle replied.

"Thanks. I feel the same way," Yuri said. "Let's het it over with, and live on in a future we choose.

"Okay!" Estelle exclaimed.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, the group was outside the inn. Yuri glanced over at them.

"Looks like you slept well."

"Yes, I did," Estelle replied.

"Like a log," Karol added.

"I was even able to sleep through Shu and Marumaro's snoring," Kluke said.

"The bed was so much more comfortable than when we were here before," Raven said.

"Yeah, the whole town is in really good shape," Yuri agreed. He and the others turned when Flynn, Mist, and Ioder came over.

"It's almost time," Flynn said.

"Yeah," Yuri replied. "This time it really is the final battle."

"Witcher has already left," Flynn continued. "He says he'll be in time no matter what."

"We're counting on him," Yuri said. He turned to the others. "We can leave at any time. Right?"

"Right!" Karol exclaimed.

"Of course," Rita said, crossing her arms. Repede barked an agreement.

"I'm ready," Shu said.

"Once we're done, we can go home to our own world," Kluke said.

"I'll miss everyone here, though..." Bouquet murmured.

"But that's just the way it is," Jiro said.

"Let's save the world, maro!" Marumaro shouted.

"Ba'ul is waiting, too," Judith said.

"Now we just have ta fly," Raven said.

"Right!" Estelle exclaimed.

"We have discussed the blastia and spirits and what to do after everything is done," Ioder said. "But I think it will take time for everyone to accept this change."

"...You're right," Yuri replied.

"We're thinking of using spirits' power to replace the blastia, but it may take time," Mist said. "Already, mages are working on a way to accomplish this."

"I will start by talking with the people here," Ioder said. "They built this wonderful city of Aurnion from nothing but a plain.

"Yes, the residents here should accept it," Flynn agreed.

"Good luck. No one would listen to me even if I tried," Yuri said.

"No way!" Estelle exclaimed.

"Estellise, Flynn, Mist, everybody...take care," Ioder said. With this, the blonde headed over to the blastia body while the group went to Aurnion's entrance gate. "Everyone! Please stop working for a moment. I have something very important to tell you all!" All the guildmen, Knights, residents, and construction workers glanced over at him. "This will affect the Empire, the guilds, and even the Entelexeia."

"I wonder if they'll be OK?" Judith murmured.

"They believed in us enough to send us. Let's believe in them," Yuri replied.

"Yes," Estelle agreed.

"Well, we have our own work to do," Yuri said. "Karol. Do your thing."

"Right," Karol replied. "Everybody! We will win no matter what! Onward Brave Vesperia!" Everyone shouted an agreement and they headed out.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ba'ul flew off toward Tarquaron. For the plan, Rita had constructed a device while Brave Vesperia was off getting the guilds to come to Aurnion. It had the power of the eight spirits embued inside and would activate the network connecting every last blastia on Terca Lumires. Karol had named it Vesperia No. 1. Once they reach the top of the tower, the spirits will focus the power of the blastia onto the Adephagos, hopefully destroying it.

As soon as Ba'ul landed them at Tarquaron's entrance, Rita started looking around.

"Damn, this is huge!" Yuri exclaimed.

"It really feels like it reaches the sky," Karol added.

"And this thing was just sleeping in the ground near Aspio," Rita murmured. "I can't believe it..."

"Is that field around it the formula that is absorbing life force?" Estelle asked.

"...It looks that way," Rita replied. "This isn't good. It looks like it came together pretty quickly."

"So there isn't much time left," Raven said.

"Hey, aren't we in trouble too?" Karol asked.

"If it's absorbing life from everyone, that should afect us as well, but..." Judith murmured, but Estelle stepped forward, her body glowing in a faint blue light.

"Estelle?" Yuri asked.

"The spirits...They've swathed us in their power," Estelle replied.

"So we should be fina as long as the spirits' power is greater than that formula," Rita said.

"Can't we just get on Ba'ul an' fly ta the top?" Raven asked.

"I doubt it would affect Ba'ul, but we probably couldn't take it," Judith replied.

"You just don't want to climb up," Rita said.

"Of course no!" Raven exclaimed. "Who do ya think I am?!"

"You're pathetic..." Jiro grumbled.

"Man up, Raven," Mist said.

"I kinda agree with Raven. I don't wanna climb up all the way either," Shu said.

"Why, thank you, Shu!" Raven exclaimed, wrapping one arm around the boy. "It warms this old man's heart to see ya takin' after me!"

"Sorry, old man, but it looks like we're climbing," Yuri said.

"Yay..." Raven grumbled.

"We don't know what's in store for us," Yuri warned. "Stay sharp."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Climbing Tarquaron was long and hard, but they could see they were nearing the top. However, when they went through a door into the tower, there on a platform over a seemingly bottomless pit was they last person any of them wanted to see.

"You know how I hate waiting, Yuri Lowell!" Zagi said. "And where do you think you're going with me right here?"

"Of all the..." Mist grumbled. "Why, of all times, do we have to run into you?!"

"You're alive," Judith said. "Don't you ever die?"

"You just never quit. How many times do I have to tell you? I don't want anything to do with you!" Yuri shouted.

"You're trying to save the world?" Zagi asked. "Heh heh heh. The world will go bye-bye if you don't hurry? Is that it?"

"If you know that much, then don't get in our way!" Karol said.

"Oh no no no no no!" Zagi exclaimed. "That's what gives it so much meaning!"

"He's totally lost it..." Kluke murmured.

"...What's this guy talking about?" Rita asked.

"Look!" Zagi shouted, holding his blastia arm up. It was the same, except red energy swirled around it. "There's a seal further on. If you want to get by, you have to take this arm from my body."

"You bastard...!" Yuri growled.

"Looks like we have no choice but to fight him," Flynn said, placing his hand on the handle of his sword.

"Ah hah hah hah hah hah! Yuri!" Zagi exclaimed. "If you want to save the world, then you have to go through me!"

"Why?!" Estelle demanded. "Why are you doing something so meaningless?"

"Meaningless? Meaningless?!" Zagi replied. "Oh but it does mean something! This way, you'll fight me with everything you've got."

"Zagi...I never thought you were this crazy. Fine. Let's finish this," Yuri said, taking Abyssion out. Everyone else took their weapons out and the five Shadows were summoned.

"Hah hah hah!" Zagi laughed, taking his two daggers out. "Show me your anger! You're rage! Give me everything you've got! Because if you don't...you won't get any higher!" With that he leaped at Yuri, who knocked him back with a well-timed Azure Edge.

"Ground Dasher!" Rita shouted. The ground beneath Zagi glowed and spiked up. Zagi was able to dodge, but encountered Karol.

"Devil Rage Rise!" he shouted, the arte taking Zagi down. Raven charged at Zagi, performing the altered arte Around And Around. Zagi held the daggerd up to block Raven's knife and used Cyclone Shot, sending Raven flying.

"Blue Explosion!"

"Conquer!"

Blue Dragon and Minotaur unleashed their attacks, impacting in the same spot and blasting Zagi back. Zagi got up, performing his Mystic Arte. He held his blastia arm up, shooting a bolt of red energy.

"Welcome to the hornet's nest!" Zagi laughed as the energy broke up and rained down on the group, screams and cries erupting. Mist recovered and ran up behind Zagi.

"Tiger Blade!" she shouted, but Zagi spun around quickly, blocking the attack and raking his dagger across her chest. She cried out and stumbled back and was caught by Flynn.

"Feather Protect!" Kluke shouted, shielding the two from Zagi's Falling Leaf. Repede used Cyclone Shot, taking Zagi into the air. Judith leaped up, performing Luna Rondo. When he landed, Saber-Tiger sent him close to the edge with Blitz Claw. Zagi was crouched down, grasping his blastia arm.

"Heh heh heh," Zagi laughed. "It doesn't hurt...It doesn't hurt at all... Hm? I can't move. What a weak body...I should change my next body to a blastia, too. That would be more fun. Right Yuri?" Zagi slowly stood up, laughing. Yuri came over and slashed him across the chest.

"Do it in hell," Yuri said. Zagi stumbled back over the edge, falling into the abyss. Everyone else came over.

"No one understood him, so he put so much meaning on fighting," Judith murmured. "Poor thing..."

"Still, his skills made him pretty famous," Raven pointed out. "Something happened after he met you all."

"Like becoming more insane?" Mist asked sarcastically.

"He really looked like he enjoyed fighting," Estelle said. "Maybe he thought he could let loose with everything when he fought Yuri."

"So Yuri was the only person he could do that with?" Karol asked.

"Seems that way," Flynn replied.

"What do I care about somebody that crazy?" Yuri grumbled.

"The downfall of somebody with too much power," Rita replied.

"...We've wasted to much time on this. Let's go," Yuri said, but noticed Judith was turned away, her hand on the side of her head. "...Judy?"

"Looks like she spaced out, maro," Marumaro said.

"Okay. Okay, got it," Judith said.

"Did something happen to Ba'ul." Yuri asked. Judith turned to him.

"No, he's fine. I was just asking what it was like outside," Judith replied.

"How far along is the life absorbing formula?" Rita asked.

"Ba'ul doesn't know anything about formulas," Judith replied.

"Yeah, I guess you're right..." Rita admitted.

"I told Ba'ul to move around as he saw fit," Judith continued. "We should move along too, right?"

"Yeah," Karol replied. "Let's hurry."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The seal Zagi talked about had vanished, allowing the group to continue climbing the tower. Along the way, they ended up doing down a path that resulted in them going back down, causing Raven to moan and gripe. The good thing that came about it is they found the last two fell arms, a dagger for Repede named Susanoh, and a scroll for Rita named Uroborg.

They finally treked back up and made it to a large stairway that led to the very top of the tower. It was a garden-like area with four giant crystals floating at the corners of a circular area up ahead. At that area was a map of the formula and Duke.

"Duke...!" Yuri said. The group headed across the walkway to the area Duke was at. The silver-haired man turned when they reached it. "Duke, we have the elemental spirits. Their power can counter the Adephagos."

"There's no need to use people to destroy the Adephagos!" Estelle added.

Duke lifted his gaze to the dark octopus-like entity above them. "Look at it's size. Elemental spirits are nothing compared to it."

"They're crucial," Rita said. "We'll make up the rest by turning the blastia cores to spirits too."

"Every single core in the world!" Karol added.

"And as a bonus, it'll put an end ta the blastia culture ya hate so much," Raven pointed out. "Not too shabby, huh?"

"I doubt humans will hand over their blastia quietly," Duke replied. "Or will you force them?"

"Can you not believe that people can move forward and change?" Judith asked.

"Humans will not let something go once it is in their grasp," Duke said.

"So you won't listen..." Yuri murmured. "We will destroy the Adephagos our own way. Please, wait just a little longer."

"...And will the world return to its former state?" Duke asked.

"Huh?" Rita said.

"Will the aer be controlled by the Entelexeia? Will all life return to a time when nature once riled?"

"No..." Rita admitted.

"You are changing this world- -our Terca Lumires- -for what?" Duke continued. "For the convenience of humans. Nothing more."

"How can you say all this stuff?!" Kluke demanded. "You're a human as well!"

"Can't you think that the world might be growing?" Estelle asked. "I think of the Entelexeia becoming spirits as evolution. Can't you see that?"

"...I would not presume to speak on the choices of the Entelexeia," Duke replied. "However, I also have my choices."

"So you won't listen to us because we're humans?" Yuri asked.

"Ya say ya can't trust people so ya just drop everything. Then when it's too late, ya try ta wipe them out?!" Raven demanded.

"Making mistakes is human nature," Mist admitted. "But we learn from those mistakes and move forward."

"How do you know wiping out humans will benefit the world?!" Shu demanded.

"The Gerios Blastia started the chain of destruction," Duke replied. "To the ancients who did not recognize the threat of the blastia...the Entelexeia, who attacked the blastia, were nothing more that a nuisance."

"And the aer went out of balance, and the Adephagos appeared..." Karol murmured.

"Only then did humans listen to the words of the Entelexeia," Duke continued. "Our world has seen many sacrifices. Yet humans committed the same offence. And they will again. Those who eat away and ruin this world...Those who would change the world for their own continued existence...They are apostles of destruction greater then even the Adephagos. I made a vow to my friend, that I would protect the world."

"Elucifer..." Judith murmured.

"Please, we can do this together..." Estelle begged.

"...Enough," Duke replied, looking over at Dein Nomos, which was implanted in the ground to create the formula. "If the Entelexeia would throw away their mission, then I wil take it up. I need not wait for your method. Once I complete this formula, this world will be saved."

"Duke...Stop!" Yuri shouted.

"As long as humans rule, they will commit the same offence time and again," Duke said, walking up to Dein Nomos. "If that happens, their hearts will grow wild, and the future will be even more painful."

"Even if that happens, it is the path we choose," Estelle replied. "Even if we are hurt or stopped, we can still walk again as long as we don't give up!"

"She's right!" Rita agreed. "You'll never find anything new if you're afraid of making mistakes. Of failing. And unlike you, we haven't chosen this path on our own. Everyone decided on it."

"If a mistake is made, then we do everything we can to correct it," Flynn added.

"The guilds and the Empire have joined to fight this!" Mist said. "Isn't that proof enough that we are starting to change?"

"We've gone through this sort of thing in our world with the Legion of Elite Species!" Shu added. "They believed the same thing about us humans as you do! But we've proved them wrong over and over!"

"Many people try their hardest to do what they believe is right, even if others disagree," Jiro added. "But if they keep going with what they believe in, they can change the world."

"Yeah!" Karol agreed. "Going it alone might be tough...but we're not alone. If one person can't do it, then we do it together. I finally learned that we can walk together like that!"

"That may be sufficient for those who are connected to one another," Duke replied. "However, there will always be some who cannot accept a difficult future. You all surely understand that."

"If someone can't accept the future, then we show them how to," Kluke said.

"That's right, maro!" Marumaro agreed.

"It will be difficult, but that is reality," Judith admitted. "But they will take what changes, think, and change again. Both the people and the world. So even if it takes tens, hundreds of years...they will listen someday. I know this now. That's what it means to live."

"Right," Raven said. "There are things ya have ta protect...But this old man wants ta see what lies ahead fer the people in the next era. See how the fools change. Fer those who can't see them anymore..."

"We will defend the future our own way!" Bouquet exclaimed.

"We are in contradiction..." Duke murmured. "However our feelings for the world are no different. How odd."

"No, it's not," Yuri replied. "The future we chose...what we see for the future...is different."

"The future must be protected," Duke said. "If it is not, then destruction awaits."

"We make the future!" Yuri insisted. "You trust the path you choose and create it." Duke picked Dein Nomos up, causing the map of the formula to vanish. Raven shook his head sadly and everyone prepared to fight, the Shadows summoned.

"...It is inevitable," Duke said. "Come!"

"Dragon Fang!" Mist shouted, unleashing the red energy wave. Duke used his sword to block it.

"We're gonna kill the Adephagos, so just stay outta the way!" Yuri shouted after performing Cerberus Blast.

"This isn't a path we chose alone!" Estelle added after missing Duke while using Air Divide.

"The Entelexeia, the Kritya...They've all chosen the same path!" Judith said while using Luna Storm. She leaped back to dodge Duke's Tempest arte.

"We are all ready to face the future we have chosen for ourselves," Flynn said, charging in and using Sword Rain: Alpha. Dukedefended himself against the arte and swung his sword when Flynn stopped, cutting the Knight across the chest.

"I have no reason to go along with your plan," Duke said.

"Could you be any more stubborn?!" Rita exclaimed. "Why won't you listen?!" She cast Bloody Howling, but Duke teleported away, appearing behind the mage and striking her down.

"We're trying to create a new future so we don't have to repeat a terrible past!" Karol said.

"You never know," Minotaur said. "What you choose could be a mistake as well."

"You won't be taking me down that easily!" Blue Dragon roared, trying to hit Duke with Crushing Nail, but being blown back by one of Duke's artes.

"Ya gotta understand, right?" Raven asked after performing Love Shot to heal Rita and Flynn.

"Humans are not all bad," Phoenix said. "Many of them do their best to protect what's important to them."

"It's what we do every day in our world," Kluke added.

"We work to prevent mistakes from destroying the world!" Saber-Tiger said. He used Blitz claw, powered up from merging with Bouquet and Hippo, and knocking Duke back.

"That's right! We're defenders of justice, maro!" Marumaro shouted.

"Right!" Bouquet and Hippo's voice sounded.

"If you destroy humans here and now, we'll never know if we can change," Mist said, using Thunder Blade.

"Right now, everyone is working together to defend their world!" Shu said.

"We've done it in our world, so I don't see why it can't happen in thsi one," Jiro added.

"We chose this path so humans and Entelexeia could move on together!" Yuri said.

"The Entelexeia will regret that decision, and humans will wish they had died," Duke replied, slashing at Yuri and managing to knock the swordsman back.

"I don't think anyone's gonna think that. Trust me," Raven said.

"We've all made up our minds, so we'll keep fighting," Flynn added.

"I won't regret it, no matter what you say," Estelle said, casting Force Field to block Duke's Dragon's Ascent.

"Our resolve runs deeper than that," Yuri said.

"We will keep on working to bring this hope to our future," Karol proclaimed after performing his Mystic Arte. He followed it up with Destructo Pain Shot.

"Even if it means fighting for our lives," Judith added.

"We will bring this change to the world!" Mist exclaimed after performing Meteor Storm.

"Such a foolish conclusion..." Duke said. "There is no longer any point in talking."

"I guess we have to fight," Yuri replied.

"I guess we can't change you," Judith added.

"If you would just listen!" Estelle exclaimed.

"No more!" Duke snapped, using Holy Rain. The downpour of light brought everyone to their knees, screaming in pain. Yuri shot forward, using Dragon Swarm. The last strike hit, sending Duke staggering backward. "Now I know what Phaeroh saw in you..."

"You're pretty strong yourself," Yuri replied.

"Humph. How unfortunate. I wish I could walk together with you all a while longer. Perhaps we would have had a different encounter..."

"It's not too late," Yuri said.

"It is," Duke replied. "My path was set when the Adephagos covered the sky."

"You stubborn bastard!" Yuri shouted. Duke turned around, stabbing the sword into the ground.

"The best path for an enduring world is to return it to its natural state. That is the path I chose! I will die for that. My friend...give me your strength!"

A white circle spread out underneath everyone, lifting them into the air. The four crystals reacted to it and the circle turned into a glyph. The light from it was absorbed into Duke, who's body was glowing white and floating in the air. Four white shields surrounded him and Dein Nomos was floating out in front of him.

"Spirits? You fools," he said. "How could the Entelexeia agree to such an uncertain plan?"

"It's not uncertain! We did it!" Rita insisted, casting Demon Lance, Duke teleporting away and appearing a little ways away.

"Using the spirits' power to defeat the Adephagos is not a fantasy!" Estelle said, using Nightengale to heal everyone's wounds.

"It doesn't matter how hard you try, we will win!" Mist added.

"The world is tryin' ta take on its natural form," Raven said.

"You're just clinging to the past," Yuri said.

"You're memories of him bind you...I feel sorry for you," Judith added. She was barely able to avoid Duke's Death Blade. She counterattacked with New Moon Blade, but was blocked.

"We hold the faith of everyone in our hands," Flynn said, charging at Duke, using Demonic Circle. Duke released a burst of energy to send the blonde flying back.

"All the people of the world decided this together," Karol said. He ducked out of the way of Duke's sword and swung Glasya Labolas, but one of the shields blocked the axe.

"So I am the only stubborn one? No, I am not mistaken," Duke replied. "I will use all my power to eliminate your misguided purpose."

When Yuri charged at Duke there was a giant flash of light, blinding everyone. When it faded, all seven fell arms began floating.

"What? What's going on?!" Estelle exclaimed. The fell arms circled Duke.

"Impossible...This is the spiral draco..." Duke murmured.

"The fell arms are reacting to Dein Nomos?!" Judith exclaimed. "And what's that light surrounding Duke?!"

"Is Duke trying to pull something?" Mist asked.

"I don't like this..." Blue Dragon murmured, narrowing his eyes.

"Dein Nomos and the tower are combining to restore the power of the fell arms!" Rita exclaimed. "But how...?!" There was another flash and Duke had changed form again. This time, his skin was black and his eyes were green instead of red. On his chest was a green gem, like the ones on the fell arms. The fell arms had changed form as well.

"What's going on...?!" Raven demanded.

"Are these the fell arms in their true form?!" Estelle asked.

"They're nothing like they used to be!" Karol exclaimed.

"Now, the ancient king of the Entelexeia will fight at my side...!" Duke said. "It is the will of the very planet. The will of Terca Lumires itself!" All seven fell arms went back to their respective owners.

"I don't give a damn about your crazy ideas! We decide our own sense of right and wrong. The rest, I leave to my sword," Yuri said, holding the new Abyssion up.

"You wil no be pursuaded, I see...Perhaps it is for the best," Duke said. "Join me now in battle, for the sake of this world!"

"Let's go!" Yuri shouted. He and everyone else charged at Duke, letting loose with everything they had.

"If you still intend to fight, then I have no choice but to unleash my full might!" Duke said.

"Yeah, well...We're not done yet, either!" Yuri replied, using Brutal Fang.

"Such strength...What is it that drives you?" Duke asked.

"The will to protect someone!" Estelle shouted.

"Never giving up!" Shu said.

"The courage to walk the path we choose!" Karol added.

"Undying loyalty to one another!" Mist said.

"Trust in our friends!" Rita exclaimed.

"Justice, maro!" Marumaro shouted.

"Choosing our own future!" Kluke added.

"My love for Shu!" Bouquet's voice sounded cheerfully, making Shu sweatdrop.

"Passion, maybe? I guess?" Judith said.

"The possibilities the future holds," Raven added.

"Defending the world!" Jiro said.

"Protecting those we hold dear!" Flynn shouted.

"You have something driving you too, right?" Yuri asked.

"It's all just make-believe," Duke replied, blasting everyone away with Big Bang. "Delusions people have made. Soon they will be betrayed and destroyed."

"But they can be built up again!" Yuri said, getting to his feet.

"When you trust someone, they will answer your call!" Karol added, using his fell arm as support.

"I'm sure we can reach each other if we just talk!" Rita exclaimed.

"Come! Defeat mw! Prove to me the strength of your conviction!" Duke shouted. Mist charged at Duke, swinging Last Fencer. Duke parried with Dein Nomos and blasted her back. Yuri and Flynn both performed Dragon Swarm. However, Duke teleported above them, using Moonbeam, Judith's arte. The energy field sent the two back.

Raven ran up, using the arte Around. However, Duke blocked it using the same arte. The two broke the lock and leaped back. Flynn and Yuri went at him again, but Duke swung his sword, energy expelled when it made contact, taking the two down. The front of their shirt was all torn up from the sword strike. Yuri got up first, but Flynn felt like his strength had been sapped away.

"That attack must've weakened me..." Flynn murmured.

"If that's so, then why hasn't Yuri been affected?" Kluke asked.

"Probably because I have this," Yuri replied, holding an item up.

"Krona's Symbol, huh?" Mist said. "Where in the world did you get that?"

"A Kowz in Mantaic. It's a long story," Yuri said, avoiding Duke's sword. Estelle ran over to Flynn, about to cast Dispel, but Duke was faster. He appeared behind her, raking the sword across her back. She dropped Mercurius and fell on top of Flynn.

"Estelle!" Yuri shouted. Raven ran past.

"I'll take car of her! You all focus on Duke!" he said. But Duke set his sights on the archer and the shields around him rearranged themselves, shooting red energy beams. Mist got in the way, blocking the strike with her sword. She was momentarily blinded, but that was all the time Duke needed.

Dein Nomos shot out, it's intention to stab her. She closed her eyes tightly. Blood splattered all over and Mist fell to the ground, her eyes wide. Flynn had ran in front of the sword, shoving Mist back. The sword pierced his back, the end sticking out just above the white belt around his stomach. The sword left his body and Flynn fell forward, Mist reaching up to catch him. Rapede growled and lunged at Duke, but Dein Nomos sliced the warrior dog's flank, making him stagger back but stil gripping Susanoh tightly in his jaws.

Yuri ran at Duke, but Duke used his second Mystic Arte, Brave Vesperia, which was made up of pieces of Yuri, Estelle, Repede, Rita, Karol, Raven, and Judith's Mystic Artes. The attack brought Yuri to his knees. Estelle, meanwhile, had gotten up thanks to Raven and went over to Yuri to heal him whil Raven helped Flynn.

"Radiant...Moonlight!" Judith shouted. Her Mystic Arte pushed Duke back but he lashed out, catching her on the arm. She gritted her teeth against the pain and used New Moon Blade, but Duke blasted her back.

Flynn used First Aid to mostly heal his wound and used Radiant Dragon Fang. Raven followed it up with his Mystic Arte, Blast Heart.

Karol forced Duke back with Destruction Street where Rita unleashed Ancient Catastrope. Now he was becoming overwhelmed as Estelle used Sacred Penance and Mist used High Dragon Fury. Finally, Yuri finished it up with Savage Wolf Fury.

Duke collapsed onto his back, reverting to normal. "I'm sorry...Elucifer...I could not keep...my promise..."

"Yuri walked over to Duke and looked down at the man. "I don't know what Elucifer was like, so this doesn't mean much coming from me...But if Elucifer fought for humans during the Great War...then I don't think he'd want his friend to reject humanity."

"Elicifer's wish..." Duke murmured. "To protect the world...Peace for all living things..."

Karol ran over. "Yuri! Hurry!"

"I'm on it," Yuri replied. He got into position with everyone else, white circles under them as Rita prepared to activate the blastia network.

"Here we go...Estelle, synchronize. Judith, give me support," she said, looking at each girl in turn.

"Okay!" Estelle replied.

"Understood," Judith added.

"Yuri, let's go!" Rita shouted.

"We're counting on you boss!" Raven added.

"You can do it Yuri!" Flynn exclaimed. Yuri pulled Vesperia No. 1 out, activating it. The eight spirits shot out and floated high above them all, each shooting out an energy beam that connacted and lit up the sky, activating the network. Every last blastia core turned into a spirit, flying to Tarquaron. The blastia cores on the groups' bohdi blastia were converted last.

White energy formed around Yuri and shot up. Duke, meanwhile, got up. "So then, they truly intend to give up the blastia," he murmured. Undine lowered her sword a bit as the energy passed her and the other spirits, a glyph appearing to focus the energy. But it hit the Adephagos and halted, all the spirits recently formed trying to force their way through.

"Oh no way!" Karol exclaimed. "Our plan isn't working!"

"No, it's okay!" Rita said. "Just a little more. It just needs a little more power."

"But how? There isn't any more!" Estelle exclaimed.

"C'mon! We gotta do something!" Raven shouted.

"It's gotta work!" Judith added.

"But what are we supposed to do?!" Mist demanded.

"We'll find a way!" Flynn replied.

"But what if we can't?" Shu asked.

Duke stood up, staring at the energy. "Entelexeia...spirits...humans..." he murmured. "Elucifer...Can this world truly change?!" He walked over to where Yuri was still trying to force the spirits though, activating Dein Nomos.

"Dammit! Come on!" Yuri shouted. Duke held Dein Nomos up, energy surrounding him and joining with the spirits. As the two were lifted with the smaller spirits, the eight elemental spirits floated up to join them. They all formed into a giant feather-shaped blade.

Inside of it, Yuri glanced over at Duke, who just narrowed his eyes at him. Yuri gave a smirk and the blade came swinging down on the Adephagos, ripping it in two. The Adephagos itself broke up into spirits that dispersed across the world along with the other ones.

"Spirits..." Estelle murmured.

"You mean all of them? Awesome!" Karol exclaimed.

"All the Entelexeia who became Adephagos...they all transformed into these spirits..." Rita said.

"So the Adephagos was also part of this world," Raven said. "Unbelievable."

"It's so...beautiful..." Judith murmured.

"I knew Yuri could do it," Flynn said with a smile.

"Now, we live in the future we chose for ourselves," Mist added. The five Shadow Wielders stared awestruck at the scene above them.

Also watching was Yuri and Duke, standing side by side.

"Was this truly the right thing for us to do?" Duke asked.

"I dunno," Yuri replied. "We lost all the blastia and with that the barriers are gone. But we chose that path so I guess we gotta live with it. As long as we're still alive we'll be okay."

"You...are strong," Duke said, glancing at Yuri.

"Yeah, well that's because I'm not alone," Yuri replied. Duke turned and walked away. "Hey, Duke! See you around."

"Yuri!" Karol shouted. Yuri turned to see everyone running toward him. He bent down to pet Repede as everyone gave their congratulations. In the distance, Sylph and Undine flew off together, joining the other spirits in the new world.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We'll miss you guys," Yuri said to the Shadow Wielders. It was the next day and Origin said he would be able to open a portal back to their world.

"Yeah, us too," Shu replied.

"Maybe Marumaro could do another stupid thing and we could see you again," Kluke giggled.

"So what are you guys going to do now?" Bouquet asked.

"Well, we'll try finding a way to bring the blastia back..." Rita started, but Bouquet interrupted her.

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about you two," Bouquet said, glancing at Flynn and Mist. "You two going out sometime?"

"Bouquet..." Mist growled. "Mind your own damned business!"

"Oh, so does that mean you are?"

"SHUT IT!"

"I actually wouldn't mind taking you out to dinner sometime," Flynn said. Mist looked at him, blushing.

"R-really...?"

"Psst! Karol!" Raven whispered. When Karol turned to him Raven continued. "I have another learnin' experience fer ya now, if ya know what I mean."

"Old man, Mist will murder you if you spy on them," Yuri grumbled.

"I sure as hell will!" Mist growled. Estelle giggled and turned to the Shadow Wielders.

"Stay safe," she said.

"You too," Shu replied.

"I wanna stay with Judith, maro!" Marumaro exclaimed, but Kluke grsabbed him by the cape.

"Origin! Send us home!" she growled. Origin nodded and a golden light surrounded him. A few seconds latter, a portal appeared. The Shadow Wielders turned to it.

"See ya!" Karol shouted, waving.

"We'll miss you!" Estelle added.

"You're always welcome here," Flynn said.

"Just make sure you leave the pervert behind," Mist added.

Shu and the others turned just before stepping into the portal.

"We'll see you later!" Shu said. With that, they stepped through it and vanished.

"I'll miss them..." Yuri murmured with a smirk.

"In the meantime, let's live in the future we fought to protect!" Mist exclaimed.

"Right!" everyone shouted.


End file.
